Shannon Sharpe opens up about his viral Instagram Live moment.

On Wednesday night, the NFL Hall of Famer and current ESPN host shocked his 3.2 million Instagram followers by going live during a sexual encounter with a woman. The broadcast, which ended after nearly two minutes, was followed by a now-deleted X (formerly Twitter) statement from Sharpe claiming that his account had been “hacked.” The Live showed no one on-screen, but viewers were able to hear audio.

Hours later, Sharpe took an emergency call from his Nightcap podcast with co-host Chad “Ocho” Johnson, in which he admits that he did indeed go live during an intimate moment.

“Of course I’m embarrassed,” Sharpe began. “(I’m) someone who is extremely, extremely private and to have one of your most intimate details — the audio — read out to the whole world? I’m embarrassed for a lot of reasons.”

Continuing in the third person, Sharpe said, “People count on Shannon. Shay Shay media, Club Shay Shay, Nightcap, ESPN… There’s a lot of people who always count on him. Even when I’m behind closed doors, I still try to maintain a professional level, even though I’m in the privacy of my own home. And I’m very disappointed in myself,” he said, then clarified, “Not for the act. There are millions and billions of people of consenting age who participate in activities, but I’ve disappointed a lot of people.”

Sharpe subsequently stated that the video was not staged, but was made entirely by accident.

“I came in, threw my phone on the bed (and) did an activity,” he said. “I didn’t know about IG live. I’ve never been on IG live. I’ve never turned on IG live, so I don’t know how it works.”

He explained that he was aware of the intimate moment, which was being livestreamed by his other phone, which was ringing with calls and texts from friends and acquaintances. When a marketing assistant of his finally alerted him to the situation, Sharpe said, “My heart sank. It sank.”

Sharpe said the assistant, “as a good Samaritan,” was the one who ended the Instagram Live and posted the message claiming he had been hacked. After discussing the situation, Sharpe decided it was best to come clean.

“I called my agent, I called the agency, I called ESPN, and I was like, ‘I just have to tell them the truth.’ My phone wasn’t hacked. It wasn’t a prank. It was because I was a healthy, active guy,” he said.

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As Sharpe continued to rehash his shame and disappointment to himself, it was only a few minutes into the episode before he was ready to joke about the situation. When Johnson suggested that the livestream might make Sharpe more popular with women, he laughed.

“If you have an allergy, like peanuts, shellfish, bee stings or ants or something like that, you carry an epipen. I carry this,” he joked, holding up several packages of condoms.

As for whether history would ever repeat itself, Sharpe said he would take precautions in the future. “I’ll tell you what,” he said. “From now on, my phone is in the car.”

Sharpe is a former Super Bowl champion, having won the championship game three times in his 14-year career: twice with the Broncos and once with the Baltimore Ravens. When he retired in 2004, Sharpe was ranked number one all-time among tight ends in both receiving yards and receptions. He has since become a fixture in the sports media as a former Fox Sports host and current ESPN contributor, in addition to his podcast with Johnson.

In the podcast episode above, you can see Sharpe address the IG Live incident.