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Shannon Sharpe is “absolutely” innocent of the rape allegations and $50 million lawsuit against him, Stephen A. Smith says he believes of his First Take colleague and friend.

However, the relentless pragmatic sport and cultural commentator also acknowledged Friday it was inevitable that Disney-owned ESPN would cut ties with the NFL Hall of Famer once explicit audio tapes of Sharpe’s sexual encounters with his accuser and news of an unsuccessful $10 million settlement were made public.

“When the news came down that he and ESPN had mutually agreed that he would need to come off the airwaves of ESPN, it was a blow, a blow to the show, a blow to me personally, because I’m going to miss him, but it was not a surprise,” Smith said today near the top of his YouTube and iHeartRadio show.

“He was working at Disney,” Smith said of Sharpe, summing the business side...

Former NFL star and current sports host Shannon Sharpe announced he will take a temporary leave from his role at ESPN amid a lawsuit that alleges sexual assault and sexual battery.

“My statement is found here and this is the truth. The relationship in question was 100% consensual,” Sharpe wrote on social media.

pic.twitter.com/jsVyWA1xbI

— shannon sharpe (@ShannonSharpe) April 24, 2025

“At this junction I am electing to step aside temporarily from my ESPN duties. I will be devoting my time to my family, and responding and dealing with these...

Former NFL player and current ESPN personality Shannon Sharpe has announced he is taking a leave of absence from the cable network, in the wake of a new lawsuit that alleges he sexually assaulted a Nevada woman.

“My statement is found here and this is the truth. The relationship in question was 100% consensual,” Sharpe said in a statement posted to social media on Thursday. “At this juncture I am electing to step aside temporarily from my ESPN duties. I will be devoting this time to my family, and responding and dealing with these false and disruptive allegations set against me.

Shannon Sharpe is stepping away from ESPN.

The 56-year-old First Take commentator is leaving the network following an accusation of rape in a $50 million civil lawsuit filed over the weekend.

He has repeatedly denied the allegations made by a Jane Doe that he sexually assaulted her in late 2024 and early 2025.

“My statement is found here and this is the truth. The relationship in question was 100% consensual,” he wrote in a statement.

Keep reading to find out more…

“At this juncture I am electing to step aside temporarily from my ESPN duties. I will be devoting this time to my family, and responding and dealing with these false and disruptive allegations set against me. I plan to return to ESPN at the start of the NFL preseason,” he continued.

ESPN said in a statement to the New York Post: “This is a serious situation, and we agree with Shannon’s decision to step away.

Shannon Sharpe is “electing to step aside temporarily” from ESPN, he said on Thursday.

“My statement is found here and this is the truth,” Sharpe, formerly an NFL star and now a prominent media figure, wrote and posted to social media. “The relationship in question was 100 percent consensual.”

“At this juncture I am electing to step aside temporarily from my ESPN duties,” his statement continued. “I will be devoting this time to my family, and responding and dealing with these false and disruptive allegations set against me.”

Sharpe said he plans to return to ESPN in time for the NFL’s preseason.

“I sincerely appreciate the overwhelming and ongoing support I have received from my family, fans, friends and colleagues,” Sharpe’s statement concluded.

“This is a serious situation, and we agree with Shannon’s decision to step away,” an ESPN spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter.

Sharpe is being sued...

Shannon Sharpe is stepping aside from his role on ESPN’s “First Take” after the former NFL star, podcaster and sports broadcaster was sued by an ex-girlfriend who has accused him of rape and is seeking $50 million in damages.

“My statement is found here and this is the truth. The relationship in question was 100% consensual,” the “Club Shay Shay” host wrote in an X post on Thursday. “At this juncture, I am electing to step aside temporarily from my ESPN duties. I will be devoting this time to my family, and responding and dealing with these false and disruptive allegations set against me. I plan to return to ESPN at the start of the NFL pre-season.”

He concluded his message, saying, “I sincerely appreciate the overwhelming and ongoing support I have receive from my family, fans, friends and colleagues.”

In a statement to TheWrap, ESPN added: “This is a serious situation,...

Exclusive, Updated with more details: Shannon Sharpe will almost certainly not be returning to ESPN’s First Take next week.

With rape allegations, a $50 million lawsuit, and a derailed multimillion-dollar settlement surrounding the NFL Hall of Famer, the Jimmy Pitaro-run cable sports outlet has decided to bench Sharpe from his regular Monday and Tuesday slot on the Stephen A. Smith fronted show, I hear.

Whether or not Sharpe returns to First Take in subsequent weeks is Tbd apparently.

Currently, Disney-owned ESPN intends to “further investigate,” according to one corporate source, the Jane Doe claims in the lawsuit and Sharpe’s insistence it is a “shakedown” and the relationship was untraditional but consensual. Unsurprisingly, the April 22 revelation by Sharpe’s own lawyer Lanny Davis that the Nightcap podcast co-host offered to write his accuser a $10 million check to keep this on the down-low has also “raised concerns” at ESPN.

ESPN...

Shannon Sharpe has enjoyed a pretty successful career, from being Pro Football Hall of Famer to hosting his widely successful Club Shay Shay podcast. However, he might be at risk of losing all that he has accomplished so far, thanks to a $50 million r*pe and s*xual assault lawsuit.

Filed by a woman in a Nevada state court, the controversy has escalated with a leaked audio recording where Sharpe is heard making threatening remarks. Moreover, there is a possibility that a 30-second clip from an alleged s*x tape might be released soon. Here is all you need to know about the lawsuit and Sharpe’s response.

Shannon Sharpe accused of r*pe and s*xual assault Shannon Sharpe | Credit: Night Cap podcast

Shannon Sharpe has been accused of s*xual assault and r*pe according to a lawsuit filed by an unnamed woman in the Nevada state court.

Both lawyers for Shannon Sharpe and his rape accuser confirm the First Take co-host earlier this year offered to pay $10 million to make the allegations go away, yet the former NFL player also says today the whole thing is just “a shakedown.”

Perhaps, but it also seems to be a contradiction in terms – to put it politely.

In an extremely graphic lawsuit filed in Nevada on April 20, Jane Doe claims the 56-year-old Sharpe sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions during a relationship they had that started in an LA gym in 2023. Alleging assault, sexual assault, battery and sexual battery, as well as intentional infliction of emotional distress, the plaintiff is represented by Houston-based Tony Buzbee, who is behind dozens of assault and abuse lawsuits against Sean “Diddy” Combs.

Asking for a jury trial, the Jane Doe is seeking $50 million in damages.

No stranger to controversy himself, and currently in a...

NFL Hall of Famer and sports media personality Shannon Sharpe has been accused of rape in a 13-page civil suit, in which a Jane Doe alleges he sexually assaulted her on two occasions over the course of the past year. The three-time Super Bowl champ, who is being sued for over $50 million in compensatory and punitive damages, released a statement via his lawyer online disputing the claims.

The lawsuit, filed Sunday in Nevada’s Clark County by Houston-based attorney Tony Buzbee (who is representing a number of accusers against Sean Combs), alleges that Sharpe’s consensual but “deeply manipulative” relationship with a woman 30 years his junior turned abusive, resulting in threats and actions of physical violence, including anal rape.

According to the complaint, Sharpe, who is now 56, first met the then-19-year-old plaintiff in 2023 at a Los Angeles gym and “incessantly pursued” her. After their initial meeting, the lawsuit describes...

NFL hall-of-famer and podcaster Shannon Sharpe has been sued for sexual assault by a woman, who says he raped her twice across a two month period last year in her Las Vegas home.

The Jane Doe, in a lawsuit filed on Sunday in Nevada state court, alleges assault and seeks at least $50 million. Sharpe “violently sexually assaulted and anally raped Plaintiff two different times in Las Vegas, Nevada, blatantly ignoring her requests for him to stop,” the complaint states. “He did it again in January.”

In a statement posted on X attributed to his lawyer Lanny Davis, Sharpe named his accuser and cited text messages that he says prove that the relationship was consensual. He said that he “categorically denies all allegations of coercion or misconduct — especially the gross lie of ‘rape’ — and will not submit to what he sees as an egregious attempt at blackmail.”

Sharpe and the woman...

Former athlete and current host of the Club Shay Shay podcast, Shannon Sharpe, has been sued for alleged sexual assault and sexual battery in a new lawsuit filed in Nevada.

The civil complaint filed by Jane Doe alleges that Sharpe, 56, assaulted a woman with whom he allegedly had a “rocky consensual relationship that lasted nearly two years” and began in 2023 when she was 19 years old. The lawsuit claims that Sharpe “violently sexually assaulted and anally raped Plaintiff two different times in Las Vegas, Nev., blatantly ignoring her requests for him...

Donald Trump’s former fixer and personal attorney, Michael Cohen, has provided documentation to the Manhattan district attorney’s office about not only the Stormy Daniels hush money payment but also regarding a payment to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, Cohen’s attorney said.

“Michael Cohen submitted a lot of documentation, not only to this group of prosecutors, but to the earlier group. And there are other documents from other people and other testimony from other people, some of it direct, involving conversations with Mr. Trump, concerning the Karen McDougal crime,...

Harvey Weinstein’s Los Angeles trial made headlines earlier this week as it got underway, with the convicted rapist’s defense team completely dismissing the #MeToo movement in its opening statement.

But the women behind upcoming film “She Said” — which follows New York Times journalists Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan) and Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan) as they investigate and eventually expose Weinstein’s decades of abuse, unleashing the #MeToo movement — are hoping the movie, which premieres on Nov. 18, reminds viewers “what really happened.”

“As reporters, we can never tell what the verdict will be. But part of why we’re so appreciative of this film is that it takes us back to the beginning,” Kantor told Variety on the red carpet at the Women in Film Honors on Thursday night, where “She Said” received the Crystal Award for Advocacy. “That’s why we wrote our book, because we felt that the story belonged to everybody,...

How many red flags can you spot in this sentence:

Donald Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen took a phone call in March from comedian Tom Arnold, in the course of which Cohen claimed he was not responsible for some of the crimes to which he pleaded guilty, while Arnold secretly recorded the call and gave a copy to the Wall Street Journal.

In its report on the 36-minute tape, WSJ reports Cohen told Arnold he hadn’t evaded taxes and that a criminal charge related to his home-equity line of credit was hooey.

Cohen is headed for the slammer next month to begin a 3-year sentence.

“I’m a man all alone and I shouldn’t be alone any more,” Cohen complained to Arnold in the recording WSJ made available online.

“I mean, after over 100 hours of testimony, including seven and a half hours of being beaten up on national television,...

Michael Cohen sat before the House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday for the last of four sessions. His story is far from over.

The Wall Street Journal reports that President Trump’s embattled former attorney and fixer told his lawyer last year to look into the possibility of a presidential pardon. Lanny Davis, who currently represents Cohen but did not at the time of the pardon inquiry, confirmed the WSJ‘s reporting, which at least on the surface appears to contradict some of his client’s testimony. While appearing publicly before...

President Trump’s initial response to Michael Cohen’s testimony before Congress on Wednesday was uncharacteristically restrained. This is largely because Trump was in Vietnam, many time zones away from his favorite Fox News programs. He was back in the White House residence on Friday morning, though, his energy laser-focused on Tucker Carlson, who offered a novel angle from which the president could attack his former attorney and fixer. “Wow, just revealed that Michael Cohen wrote a ‘love letter to Trump’ manuscript for a new book that he was pushing,...

Michael Cohen appeared before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday for the first time since agreeing to cooperate with prosecutors in both the Southern District of New York and the Special Counsel’s Office investigation. In his opening statement, Cohen revealed stunning new details suggesting President Trump had prior knowledge of Wikileaks’ intention to release emails hacked from the DNC and the Clinton campaign, about his possible awareness of his son’s attempts to get ‘dirt’ on the Clinton campaign from Russian nationals, about the president’s involvement in hush...

Updated with closing remarks, Trump campaign response: “Given my experience working for Mr. Trump, I fear that if he loses the election in 2020 that there will never be a peaceful transition of power,” President Donald Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen said in closing remarks before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday evening.

Misplaced loyalty to Trump has “cost me everything — my family’s happiness, my law license, my company, my livelihood, my honor, my reputation and, soon, my freedom,” said Cohen, who is going to prison for three years in May after pleading guilty to campaign finance violations and lying under oath to Congress, among other charges.

Cohen began to weep during committee chair Elijah Cummings’ closing remarks, when he told Cohen, “it’s painful going to prison” and “it’s got to be painful being called a ‘rat’.”

Trump called Cohen a “rat” in a December tweet after...

Michael Cohen’s testimony before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday started with a bang. The opening statement delivered by President Trump’s former attorney and fixer was strewn with bombshell revelations, including claims that Trump knew about WikiLeaks plan to release Democratic National Committee emails hacked by Russia; that he was indirectly pressured by Trump to lie to Congress about negotiations surrounding a potential Trump Tower in Moscow; that Trump knew ahead of time that Donald Trump Jr. scheduled a meeting to obtain damaging information about Hillary Clinton provided by Russia; and more.

The Florida bar is investigating Rep. Matt Gaetz’s threat to President Donald Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen on the eve of Cohen’s testimony before the House Oversight Committee.

A rep for the state’s bar association confirmed to Daily Beast that the org had opened an investigation into whether the threat issued by the licensed attorney violated professional rules of conduct.

“It seems that the Florida bar, by its rules, is required to investigate even the most frivolous of complaints,” Gaetz rep said in a statement about the probe.

“Hey @MichaelCohen212 – Do your wife & father-in-law know about your girlfriends? Maybe tonight would be a good time for that chat. I wonder if she’ll remain faithful when you’re in prison,” Gaetz had tweeted late Tuesday afternoon, adding, “She’s about to learn a lot…”

News of the Mob-by threat immediately ripped through Washington, where it got...

Michael Cohen, President Trump’s embattled former lawyer and fixer, was set to testify before Congress on February 7th. Then, late last month, he backed out, citing fear over threats from his former boss. A day after Cohen reconsidered voluntarily appearing before Congress, the Senate Intelligence Committee left him with no choice, issuing a subpoena that effectively forced him to testify. He’ll do so next week. A lot. On Tuesday, Cohen will sit down for a private session with the Senate Intelligence Committee. On Wednesday, he’ll appear publicly before the House Oversight Committee.

Just days after being indicted, Roger Stone continued his media blitz Sunday appearing on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos. Stephanopoulos asked Stone about possibly cooperating with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe, as Mueller has not asked to speak with Stone to date: “Are you prepared to tell the truth about your dealings with him to the special counsel, the truth about your dealings with the campaign?”

Stone’s answer contradicts itself. He first said that he would speak with Mueller about wrongdoing by people that he knows about.

Michael Cohen is going to testify before Congress whether he wants to or not.

A day after President Trump’s former attorney and “fixer” postponed plans to testify before Congress voluntarily on February 7th, the Senate Intelligence Committee issued a subpoena that will effectively force Cohen to testify next month. Though Cohen has cooperated with federal investigators, Congress is eager to learn what he knows about Trump’s relationship with Russia during the 2016 campaign, which has become a focus of the media’s attention in recent weeks as new information...

President Donald Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen has postponed his testimony before the House Oversight Committee, citing threats from President Donald Trump and lawyer Rudy Giuliani against his family.

In what TV news pundits had been eagerly describing as Must See TV, Cohen had volunteered to testify before the House Oversight Committee on February 7.

Wednesday afternoon, Cohen’s attorney Lanny Davis cited “threats against him and his family from President Trump and Mr. Giuliani as recently as this weekend” as well as “Mr. Cohen’s continued cooperation with ongoing investigations,” in a statement announcing the postponement.

“By advice of counsel, Mr. Cohen’s appearance will be postponed to a later date. Mr. Cohen would to thank [House Oversight Committee Chairman] Elijah Cummings for allowing him to appear before the House Oversight committee, and looks forward to testifying at the appropriate time.”

“This is a time where Mr. Cohen had to put his family and their safety first.

Michael Cohen’s cell phone pinged off cell phone towers in Prague during the summer of 2016, suggesting that Cohen was there meeting with Russian government officials as alleged in the infamous Steele dossier, McClatchy reported, citing four people familiar with the matter.

McClatchy also reported that electronic eavesdropping by an Eastern European intelligence agency picked up a call between Russians officials during which one said Cohen was in Prague. At the meeting, Cohen and Russians allegedly discussed how to hide the campaign’s close relationship with the Russian government. Both...

Is Fox News host Mark Levin the secret voice for the rant-happy Master Shake from the Adult Swim cartoon series “Aqua Teen Hunger Force”?

A video on Twitter overlaying a Levin monologue about special counsel Robert Mueller on the sarcastic talking milkshake has been making the rounds, with many commenting on the uncanny similarity between the two voices.

The video was first posted by Media Matters for America researcher Brendan Karet and featured Levin fulminating about former Donald Trump attorney Michael Cohen and his lawyer Lanny Davis.

Also Read: Sinclair Forces Local Stations to Air 'Must-Run' Segment Defending Tear-Gassing Migrants (Video)

“There was no violation of federal campaign laws. Lanny Davis blew it,” thundered Levin. “You’re a dummy, Lanny. By making payments to two women for the principal purpose of influencing an election. If those payments were a crime for Michael Cohen, then why wouldn’t they be a crime for Donald Trump?...

Mika Brzezinski has risen to defend NBC News chairman Andrew Lack, whom President Trump attacked in a tweetstorm this morning.

Trump, apparently reacting to a New York Post Page Six report that Lack was about to be dismissed, tweeted out that Lack “is about to fired (?) for incompentence, and much worse.”

Brzezinski responded on her MSNBC Morning Joe show. “Not only is he attacking NBC’s chairman Andy Lack, our boss, with stupid rumors, but also he’s going after the truth,” she said.

Trump also attacked CNN president Jeff Zucker, calling for his firing over a story sourced by Michael Cohen attorney Lanny Davis, who has since walked back his previous statements. CNN continues to stand on its story, despite the Davis clarifications.

Lack, a veteran newsman, has been chairman of NBC News and MSNBC since 2015.

Hours after calling legendary Washington Post reporter and current CNN contributor Carl Bernstein a “degenerate fool,” President Trump roused himself out of bed Thursday to levy another series of unhinged attacks against the media. Beginning just before 7 a.m., the president tweeted a whopping 10 times over the next three hours, with six of his missives aimed directly at the amorphous concept of “Fake News.” Once again, Trump described the press as the “Enemy of the People,” a phrase parroted by a California man arrested Thursday for threatening to shoot Boston Globe employees in the head.

Donald Trump attacked both Carl Bernstein and CNN, calling the veteran reporter “sloppy” for what Trump said was a “major lie” in a recent article.

“CNN is being torn apart from within based on their being caught in a major lie and refusing to admit the mistake,” the president tweeted Wednesday. “Sloppy @carlbernstein, a man who lives in the past and thinks like a degenerate fool, making up story after story, is being laughed at all over the country! Fake News.”

In a statement CNN said it continued to stand by its reporting, adding: “There may be many fools in this story but @carlbernstein is not one of them.”

Make no mistake, Mr. President, CNN does not lie. We report the news. And we report when people in power tell lies. CNN stands by our reporting and our reporters. There may be many fools in this story but @carlbernstein is not one of them.

Michael Cohen attorney Lanny Davis admitted this week that he was a source for a much heralded July CNN article that reported Cohen saw Donald Trump Jr. inform his father about plans for a Trump Tower meeting between representatives of his campaign and a Russian lawyer.

The bombshell piece, by Jim Sciutto, Carl Bernstein and Marshall Cohen, contradicts the president’s claim that he had no knowledge of the sit-down until after he became president. The piece cites Davis, one of Cohen’s lawyers, but said he “declined to comment.”

The story received fresh attention this week after Davis appeared to contradict the news during an appearance on “Anderson Cooper 360,” revising his position to say he was no longer certain Cohen has witnessed Trump Sr. being informed.

Also Read: Anthony Scaramucci Plugs Upcoming Trump Musical in New York City (Video)

“I think the reporting of the story got mixed up...

Something most people don’t know about Michael Cohen’s lawyer, Lanny Davis, is that he’s also currently representing a Ukrainian oligarch whose name is often linked to one of the most powerful mobsters in the world.

For the past four years, Davis — a 72-year-old former special counsel to former President Bill Clinton — has served as a registered foreign agent for Dmitry Firtash, who has been fighting to avoid extradition to Chicago, where he faces charges of international racketeering and money laundering. In registering with the Justice Department as Firtash’s foreign agent,...

Washington — President Trump told “Fox & Friends” host Ainsley Earhardt that he knew “later on” about payments that his then-attorney Michael Cohen arranged to adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal.

“But you have to understand, Ainsley, what he did — and they weren’t taken out of campaign finance, that’s the big thing,” Trump said in the interview, conducted at the White House on Wednesday. “That’s a much bigger thing. Did they come out of the campaign? They didn’t come out of the campaign, they came from me. And I tweeted about it.”

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders declined to say when Trump learned about the payments and referred questions to Trump’s outside counsel, Rudy Giuliani.

On Tuesday, Cohen plead guilty to eight counts, including two campaign finance violations, and told a federal judge that he arranged the payments to Daniels...

Updated with additional Davis TV news appearances: Lanny Davis, lawyer representing Donald Trump’s former longtime fixer/personal attorney/bullet-taker, spent this morning traversing the TV news landscape teasing that his client has information that would be “of interest” to special counsel Robert Mueller. Davis also said that his client is such a changed man he would not accept any pardon from Trump. And, Davis plugged the GoFundMe campaign he’s launched to help his client “tell the truth about Donald Trump.” At time of publication, it had raised about $36K. “I can tell you it’s my observation that what he knows, that he witnessed, will be of interest to the special counsel,” Cohen’s lawyer, Lanny Davis, told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos this morning on Good Morning America. Cohen “will tell the truth to everybody who asks him about Mr. Trump,” though he did not say if Cohen...

Updated with more tweets: President Donald Trump went with gallows humor this morning as he finally weighed in on his former fixer/bullet-taker-in-chief Michael Cohen, tweeting, “If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you don’t retain the services of Michael Cohen!”

Showing his legal team’s cards, Trump then insisted Cohen had pleaded guilty to two counts of campaign finance violations “that are not a crime.” And then, by way of explaining, Trump tweeted that his Very Bad Tuesday was just like – Obama.

“President Obama had a big campaign finance violation that was easily settled!” Trump tweeted.

The tweets come the morning after now-convicted felon Cohen turned himself in and pleaded guilty to give counts of tax fraud, one count of making a false statement to a bank, and two counts of campaign finance violation.

Under oath in a packed federal court in Manhattan,...

Lanny J. Davis, the attorney for President Donald Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen, has issued a statement about his client’s guilty plea today in court:

“Michael Cohen took this step today so that his family can move on to the next chapter. This is Michael fulfilling his promise made on July 2nd to put his family and country first and tell the truth about Donald Trump. Today he stood up and testified under oath that Donald Trump directed him to commit a crime by making payments to two women for the principal purpose of influencing an election. If those payments were a crime for Michael Cohen, then why wouldn’t they be a crime for Donald Trump?”

Surprising no one, President Donald Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, had a very different take on what had happened at the court when Cohen plead guilty to multiple counts of bank fraud,...

Michael Cohen, President Trump’s longtime former personal attorney, turned himself into the FBI on Tuesday in advance of an appearance in federal court where he was expected to enter a guilty plea.

The charges are for tax evasion, making a false statement to a financial institution and campaign finance violations. The New York Times reported that the campaign finance violations relate to payments Cohen made to women who claimed to have affairs with Trump, but that the agreement does not include cooperation.

Cohen was steadfastly loyal to Trump and known as his fixer until authorities raided his office, home, and hotel room in April. That ignited speculation that federal prosecutors were scrutinizing payments that Cohen set up in the amount of $130,000 to adult film actress Stormy Daniels on behalf of Trump in October, 2016. Daniels claimed that she had sexual relations with Trump in 2006.

Daniels’ attorney, Michael Avenatti, tweeted that...

Updated: President Donald Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen has surrendered to the FBI in New York. As part of a plea deal, Cohen is expected to plead to guilty to multiple counts of campaign finance violations, tax fraud and bank fraud. He’s looking at up to three years in jail and a substantial monetary fine.

The plea deal had been in the works this week with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan. He is expected to appear in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan later today.

In early April, FBI executed a no-knock raid on Cohen’s office and home. Trump called it “a disgraceful situation,” adding, “I have this witch hunt constantly going on,” and complaining it’s “an attack on our country…what we all stand for.”

Agents seized records of payment to porn star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 presidential election. Daniels claims she...

For those who wondered how President Donald Trump would spin the Michael Cohen tape that seems to prove that Potus lied about having no knowledge of the Karen McDougal payoff, here’s how: It was doctored.

Really, we shoulda seen this one coming:

What kind of a lawyer would tape a client? So sad! Is this a first, never heard of it before? Why was the tape so abruptly terminated (cut) while I was presumably saying positive things? I hear there are other clients and many reporters that are taped – can this be so? Too bad!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 25, 2018

On the 2016 recording, which was made secretly and played on CNN llast night, Trump’s then-lawyer Cohen is heard discussing the matter with him and brings up the “financing” of the payoff with then-candidate Trump, who asks, “What financing?” When Cohen says, “Well, I have to pay –,” Trump interrupts and says,...

It does not appear as though President Trump will be reconciling with his jilted former lawyer-fixer, Michael Cohen, anytime soon. Four days after the New York Times reported that Cohen secretly recorded a conversation he had with Trump regarding payment to bury a story about Trump’s alleged affair with former Playboy model Karen McDougal prior to the 2016 election, CNN on Tuesday night released the tape. The network obtained it from — who else? — Cohen’s lawyer, Lanny Davis.

Full audio: Presidential candidate Trump is heard on tape discussing with his...

Updated with video: CNN has obtained the infamous recording secretly made by Donald Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen in which the future Potus seems to acknowledge a long-denied affair with a former Playboy centerfold and a payoff made by a third party to squelch her story. The 2016 recording was played on-air tonight during Cuomo Prime Time.

“At the onset, it seems there’s one part of this conversation that matters most to both sides,” Cuomo said on air after playing it, “and they disagree about what is said and what it means. It involves the discussion of how this corporation that was being set up to supposedly buy back any potentially damaging stories about Trump would pay for any such properties.”

On that part of the recording, which is clear enough but not crystal, Cohen is heard discussing the matter and brings up its “financing” with then-candidate Trump, who asks,...

Washington — CNN has obtained a tape in which Donald Trump and his then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, discuss buying the rights to Playboy model Karen McDougal’s story, in which she alleges she had an affair with Trump.

CNN ran the audio of the recording on Chris Cuomo’s primetime show. The network obtained the recording from Cohen’s attorney, Lanny Davis, who also appeared on the program.

McDougal alleged that she had an extramarital affair with Trump in 2006. In the recording, made in September 2016, Trump and Cohen discuss acquiring the rights to her story from American Media, the publisher of the National Enquirer. Ami is headed by Trump’s friend David Pecker. The Enquirer never ran the story.

“I need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend David,” Cohen is heard saying, apparently a reference to Pecker.

Trump asks, “What financing?” He...

Harvey Weinstein has parted ways with Sitrick and Company, the crisis PR firm that has been issuing his public statements since October.

Weinstein hired the firm three days after the New York Times reported in October that he had settled at least eight sexual harassment lawsuits. Weinstein quickly parted ways with Lanny Davis, Lisa Bloom, and Charles Harder, the team he had originally consulted to respond to the Times’ bombshell report.

The Times’ story led to his firing from the company he founded in 2005 and the filing of numerous lawsuits against him and the studio, and prompted the company to go bankrupt.

Sallie Hofmeister, of Sitrick and Company, has been issuing statements on Weinstein’s behalf since then. In general, Weinstein has denied all allegations of non-consensual sex. At times, he has also given more elaborate responses. In February, Weinstein issued a statement through attorney Ben Brafman, arguing that while...

A new Vanity Fair feature on Harvey Weinstein’s October panic right before investigations guillotined his career includes an engrossing footnote: The Best Picture Oscars won by “The Kings Speech” (2011) and “The Artist” (2012) have reportedly gone missing from the Weinstein Company (TWC)’s Manhattan offices. TWC has not yet responded to IndieWire’s requests for comment. Weinstein produced three additional Best Picture winners (“The English Patient,” “Shakespeare in Love,” and “Chicago”).

Read More:The Weinstein Company Is Close to Being Sold for Less Than $500 Million

Weinstein was fired from the mini-major studio he co-founded with his brother, Bob, on October 8, three days after the New York Times published details about eight sexual harassment lawsuits he had settled. The ousting also arrived two days before a New Yorker exposé detailed more allegations against the producer, including three rapes. Several dozen women have now made claims against Weinstein, whose past is now being...

After threatening to sue The New York Times for their piece on Harvey Weinstein’s history of sexual harassment, Charles Harder has left the disgraced producer’s legal team, joining Lanny Davis and Lisa Bloom as the third lawyer to exit, according to several news reports. Janice Min, strategist for Eldridge Industries, confirmed Harder and Weinstein’s parting in a tweet on Sunday. While other outlets have since confirmed Harder’s exit, he has not responded to a request for comment from TheWrap. Harder, who has earned a reputation for taking on media outlets after his successful lawsuit against Gawker that led to the New.

More than a week after a lawyer for Harvey Weinstein promised a big lawsuit against The New York Times over the paper’s detailed October 5 piece on allegations of sexual harassment against the mogul, that legal threat has gone away, as has the lawyer. Joining the likes of the already exited Lisa Bloom and Lanny Davis, Charles Harder is no longer working for the ex-The Weinstein Company co-chair, Deadline has confirmed. "He has been gone for about a week," a source says of…...

More than a week after a lawyer for Harvey Weinstein promised a big lawsuit against The New York Times over the paper’s detailed October 5 piece on allegations of sexual harassment against the mogul, that legal threat has gone away, as has the lawyer. Joining the likes of the already exited Lisa Bloom and Lanny Davis, Charles Harder is no longer working for the ex-The Weinstein Company co-chair, Deadline has confirmed. "He has been gone for about a week," a source says of…...

The mounting allegations of sexual assault and misconduct against Harvey Weinstein could have major legal ramifications for the Hollywood mogul, from civil suits to criminal charges.

In accounts in the New York Times, the New Yorker and elsewhere, more than 20 women have spoken out against the producer, with allegations including rape, forced oral sex, groping and harassment. The alleged incidents took place over multiple decades and in cities including New York, Los Angeles, Toronto and Cannes. (“Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein,” his spokesperson said Tuesday.)

The women involved could seek criminal charges or pursue civil lawsuits against Weinstein,...

Washington D.C. attorney Lanny Davis is stepping down as legal adviser to Harvey Weinstein, a source close to Davis confirmed to TheWrap on Saturday. Davis, an expert in crisis management who served as special counsel to Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, is the second Weinstein adviser to resign on Saturday after Lisa Bloom announced on Twitter earlier this morning that she was also stepping down. Also Read: Lisa Bloom Resigns as Adviser to Harvey Weinstein Bloom also hinted that Weinstein was “moving toward an agreement” with the board of directors at The Weinstein Company, from which the disgraced producer was.

In another major blow to embattled Weinstein Company co-founder Harvey Weinstein, a second key legal advisor has left his side. Lanny Davis no longer represents Weinstein, sources close to him tell Deadline. Davis was part of the legal team Weinstein had assembled as he was preparing to face news reports painting long history of sexual harassment. Davis joins another attorney who was advising the mogul on the matter, Lisa Bloom, who announced her resignation on Twitter…...