LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — Shannon Sharpe said he will step away from ESPN after a civil lawsuit filed this week in Nevada accused the football Hall of Famer of sexually assaulting and battering a woman during their relationship.

Sharpe shared a statement to X on Thursday saying he was “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,” the statement reads. “I plan to return to ESPN at the start of the NFL preseason.”

A woman listed as Jane Doe filed suit in Clark County District Court alleging Sharpe raped her multiple times throughout a nearly two-year “rocky consensual relationship.”

“A woman can say ‘yes’ to consensual sexual relations with a man ninety-nine times, but when she says ‘no’ even once, that ‘no’ means no,” the complaint reads. “Defendant Shannon Sharpe, a man who is accustomed to getting what he wants, completely fails to understand this basic concept.”

The lawsuit is seeking more than $50 million in damages.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police confirmed to News 3 that Sharpe is not listed in any criminal investigations with the department.

Sharpe has denied the allegations, calling the relationship consensual. He accused the plaintiff and her attorney, Tony Buzbee, of perpetrating a shakedown and said he would file a defamation lawsuit in response.

A tight end for 14 years in the NFL, Sharpe was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011. He appears regularly on ESPN shows and hosts the podcast “Club Shay Shay.”