Shannon Sharpe's live video goes viral; NFL legend says his Instagram page was hacked
Shannon Sharpe speaks onstage during the 2024 RenderATL Tech Conference at AmericasMart Atlanta on June 14, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images)
Shannon Sharpe's Instagram live post went viral for the wrong reasons.
The NFL hall-of-famer's Instagram page, @shannonsharpe84, went live where followers could hear apparent sex noises in the background. The video never showed anyone in the video, including Sharpe, but many who stumbled upon the live stream noticed the not-safe-for-work content.
On Wednesday, Sharpe issued a statement via Instagram story feature saying he was hacked – but later retracted in a podcast episode admitting it was him in the video.
"Beware my @shannonsharpe84 Instagram was hacked this morning, my team and I are working vigorously to figure this out," the Instagram story post read with his Unc signature, prior to retracting his statement.
In the "Nightcap" episode that he and Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson co-hosts, Sharpe said he was embarrased of the incident.
"I threw my phone on the bed," Sharpe said, noting that he had no idea he was live-streaming on Instagram at the time.
Sharpe said he didn't know about the incident until someone from his marketing team notified him that he was live and that people could hear sex noises.
"My heart sank," Sharpe said in the Nightcap podcast. "It dropped… Then after, I called my agent, the agency. I called ESPN… I just got to tell them the truth. My phone wasn't hacked."
While the live video has since been taken down, the NFSW post hardly went unnoticed across social media as the "Club Shay Shay" host boasts more than 3 million followers on Instagram and a following of more than 2 million on X. Fellow NFL legend Terrell Owens was among the social media users poking fun at Sharpe.
"I guarantee you ESPN [human resource] is BUSY RIGHT NOW!" Owens wrote, in part, on X.
Others also chimed in on social media to mock the allegedly-hacked post:
Sharpe has made a name for himself as one of sports' most recognizable analysts. His "Club Shay Shay" podcast boasts more than 3.4 million subscribers on YouTube and the NFL legend's previous on-screen stops include ESPN, FOX Sports and CBS Sports.
As a player, Sharpe was named Pro Bowler eight times, named All-Pro four times, captured three Super Bowl championship rings (twice with the Denver Broncos and once with the Baltimore Ravens) before he was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011.