Former NFL stars Shannon Sharpe and Chad Ochocinco Johnson recently prevailed on an anti-SLAPP motion in the Common Pleas Court for Delaware County, Ohio. This is one of the first cases under Ohio's Uniform Public Expression Protection Act, which the Ohio General Assembly adopted in April, 2025. Aside from the anti-SLAPP issues, the case involved a "Karen," a ring camera, racial profiling and a podcast. A unique cast of characters, to be sure.
Plaintiff Michele Bishop (the "Karen") lives in an upscale neighborhood in Central Ohio. On the evening of Nov. 19, 2024, she went for a jog with her two children, one of whom was in a stroller. At one point, a late-model, high-end pickup truck appeared behind her. DaMicheal Jenkins, a Black man who lived
on the street, was driving the truck. Bishop claims she was unnerved because Jenkins continued to drive slowly behind her and did not pass. She also claims she did not know Jenkins' race.
Karen, sorry, Ms. Bishop decided to run to the front porch of the nearest house and ring the doorbell. This was, ironically, Jenkins' home. From the truck, Jenkins asked Bishop if she needed help. She replied, "Nope."
Bishop proceeded to ring the doorbell and asked Jenkins, "Do you live here?" He replied, "Yeah," to which Bishop responded, "I don't believe that."
Bishop next did what any rational actor would do in that situation. She ran off the porch screaming at the top of her lungs to a neighbor's house. From there, she reported the incident to the Delaware County Sheriff. Eventually, Bishop returned to Jenkins' home to retrieve the stroller, which she had abandoned in her frenzied retreat.
Jenkins' wife answered the door, and Bishop's husband said that someone had "chased (his wife) up here." Bishop apologized (sort of), but continued to excuse her actions. When she returned home, she recorded a video for Instagram where she continued to rationalize her behavior.
Sharpe and 'Ochocinco' give their take
The Instagram video apparently caught the attention of the producers of "Nightcap," a podcast hosted by Sharpe and Johnson. The podcast spent two episodes on the incident. The first episode was captioned as follows:
"Shannon Sharpe and Chad 'Ochocinco' Johnson react to a disturbing video that a real estate developer shared footage of him being profiled by a neighbor at the home he built in an affluent Ohio neighborhood. Later, Unc and Ocho commend how the real estate developer and his wife handled the situation and say they would not have been so kind if it were them in the same situation."
The second episode bore this caption:
"Shannon Sharpe and Chad 'Ochocinco' Johnson are joined by real estate developer DeMichael Jenkins and his wife, who were recently racially profiled by a neighbor at their home in Ohio. They share their side of the story from the viral incident and explain how the events unfolded."
On the podcast, Sharpe and Johnson shared their strong feelings about the incident, accusing Bishop of racial profiling, and noting that her actions could have led to Jenkins being shot by responding officers.
According to Bishop, following the podcast, she received threats and criticism through the internet, social media and telephone. She filed suit against Sharpe and Johnson claiming defamation, false light and public disclosure of private facts. Sharpe and Johnson filed a motion to dismiss and for relief under Ohio's anti-SLAPP statute.
Ohio's new anti-SLAPP law gets an early test
Following a daylong hearing on July 22, which featured testimony from Bishop and a review of both podcast episodes, the court granted the motions. In its ruling, the court first determined that Sharpe and Johnson commented on a matter of public concern. This was in large part due to Bishop's Instagram video, which was viewed by her 180,000 followers. As the court noted, "[p]laintiff cannot now expect this Court to deem Defendants' comments arose from a private matter between neighbors, when she herself deemed it so worthy of public notice and commentary."
This finding required the court to determine whether Bishop made a prima facie case. The court concluded she did not.
In applying Ohio's "totality of circumstances" standard, the court found that Sharpe and Johnson's comments were protected opinion, given that the podcast was advertised as featuring their "take" on the incident. The court also found that to the extent Sharpe and Johnson provided verifiable facts, those facts were substantially accurate. The court further found that "[u]nder Ohio law, accusing someone of bigotry, racism, or similarly natured judgments 'are not actionable in defamation because such language is value-laden and represents a point of view that is obviously subjective.'"
With this, the court disposed of the defamation claim.
The court found that Bishop's false light claim fared no better. Because the statements were opinion, they were not actionable under a false light claim. But the court also noted that "[b]ecause Plaintiff first publicized the incident between her and Jenkins, she has no viable claims for 'the publicizing of one's private affairs with which the public has no legitimate concern,' or 'the wrongful intrusion into' her private affairs."
This finding also doomed her claim for publication of private facts. By finding that the "matters published by Defendants were first made public by Plaintiff and involved matters of public concern," there was no basis for the claim.
The bad news for Bishop recently continued. The Ohio statute provides: If the court grants a motion for expedited relief under section 2747.04 of the Revised Code, the court shall award reasonable attorney's fees, court costs, and other reasonable litigation expenses to the moving party.
On Sept. 29, the court granted the motion of Sharpe and Johnson's motion for fees in full.
During his playing career, Johnson was known for his elaborate touchdown celebrations. He might be doing one in recognition of this court victory.
Jack Greiner is a Cincinnati attorney. He represents Enquirer Media in First Amendment and media issues. He can be reached atgreinerjack46@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: A 'Karen,' Ochocinco and Ohio's new anti-SLAPP law collide | Strictly Legal
