Stephen A. Smith was uncomfortable with Shannon Sharpe leaking texts from the woman who accused him of sexual assault and rape.

On the most recent episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show, he shared his thoughts about the tenuous situation facing his fellow “First Take” co-host.

 “They revealed some of those explicit text messages. That was uncomfortable,” Smith said. “I don’t know if that’s a strategy that would work.”

 “One of the hardest things in the world for all of us to do is to just lay low and be quiet and let our legal team do it,” Smith added.

Elsewhere in the episode, Smith noted that Sharpe vehemently denied all the charges levied against him.

“I can tell you all that I spoke to Shanon and he emphatically proclaims his innocence,” explained Smith. 

On Monday (April 22), Sharpe was hit with a $50 million lawsuit and accused of sexual assault. According to the suit, Sharpe was accused of committing assault, sexual assault, battery, and sexual battery, and engaged in the intentional infliction of emotional distress in what is described as a “rocky consensual relationship” that went on with a woman for almost two years. 

Addressing allegations for the first time, Sharpe also released a video statement on Tuesday (April 22) about the lawsuit.

“I’m gonna be open, transparent, and defend myself because this isn’t right,” Sharpe said. “This is all being orchestrated by Tony Buzbee, who has targeted Jay-Z. Tony Buzbee targets Black men, and I believe he is going to release a 30-second clip of a sex tape that tries to make me look guilty and plays into every stereotype you could possibly imagine.”

“You know what happened, but you’re trying to manipulate the media,” Sharpe added. “The encounter in question took place during the day at her invitation, and now that appears to be a deliberate setup coordinated by Gabby, also known as Carly on OnlyFans. Gabby and Tony Buzbee want $50 million. What they’re getting is sued for defamation and trying to take me down.”