The Shannon Sharpe Instagram Live incident on September 11th, 2024 refers to former NFL star and ESPN commentator Shannon Sharpe's (@shannonsharpe84) accidental Instagram video leak that included the sounds of a man and woman having intercourse offscreen. While nothing inappropriate was shown in the video, it seems Shannon went live by accident on the app.
The clip was posted throughout social media on the day it occurred, quickly leading to a glut of memes and reactions. In the aftermath, Sharpe insisted that his Instagram had been hacked.
What did Shannon Sharpe do on Instagram Live?
On September 11th, 2024, Shannon Sharpe’s Instagram account went live. All followers could see was a wooden table. However, sounds of a male and female voice seemingly involved in sexual activities could be heard offscreen.
Immediately after the post went live, X user @AhmadAl18429902 tweeted two separate screen recordings of Sharpe's Instagram Live, writing, "@ShannonSharpe you trippin unc 🤣🤣🤣🌚🌚🌚.” The post garnered over 7.4 million views and 12k likes in three hours.
As the day wore on, several further posts featuring the screen recordings were posted to X. For example, account @mymixtapez posted a recording of it which received over 7.7 million views and 69k likes in two hours.
The memes and reactions came fast and hard in the next hours, as accounts like @NewMediaSports_ posted riffs on the incident, such as "Shannon Sharpe trying to enter ESPN studio tomorrow," which gained over 11,000k likes in three hours.
Also on September 11th, X user @XavienBuner tweeted a video featuring John Cena captioned, "Shannon Sharpe better than me. I would’ve done this at the end of the video," which received over 7.6k likes in two hours.
Sharpe initially claimed his Instagram account was hacked
Later on September 11th, 2024, Shannon Sharpe posted an Instagram story on his account that read "Beware my @shannonsharpe84 Instagram was hacked this morning, my team and I are working vigorously to figure this out.” Sure, Jan.
The screenshot of the story was posted on X by user @itsjules007 immediately after, receiving over 9.2k likes in two hours.
The hacking claim wasn’t true. On an episode of his podcast Nightcap, Shannon addressed and apologized for the incident.
“I’m disappointed in myself. I let a lot of people down,” Sharpe said. “This was not staged. I came in, I threw my phone on the bed, engaged in an activity. I did not know IG Live. I’ve never been on IG Live. I’ve never turned IG Live on, so I don’t know how it works.”
Sharpe also threw a staffer under the bus named Jordan, who he says claimed the account was hacked, falsely. Sharpe reiterated the shame he felt from the incident.
Was Shannon Sharpe fired from ESPN?
As of this writing, ESPN has not fired Sharpe. Still, Sharpe’s team is doing some major damage control over the Instagram footage. Due to the accidental nature of the video, as well as the lack of any visuals, it seems ESPN may be letting this one slide.
Meme examples
More Shannon Sharpe memes:
- This clip of Shannon Sharpe is the internet’s favorite new reaction GIF
- Every Shannon Sharpe meme you could ever want
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