Jews ‘own everything,’ sports commentators Shannon Sharpe and Chad Ochocinco claim
The former NFL players disparaged Jews on their podcast, while the Jewish streamer they addressed laughed it off
Former NFL player Shannon Sharpe is seen on the set of the NFL Network in New Orleans in Feb. 2025. Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images
(JTA) — The co-hosts of a popular sports podcast declared on a recent episode that Jews “own everything” and are “the most powerful community in the world.”
Shannon Sharpe and Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, both former National Football League stars, directed the comments at a popular Jewish livestreamer.
“This is the most powerful community in the world,” Sharpe said on a Dec. 1 episode of his podcast “Night Cap.” When Ochocinco asked which community Sharpe was referring to, he clarified by describing the Israeli flag: “There’s another country that has a white and blue flag with a star on it.”
In response, Ochocinco said, “Oh, they own every damn thing,” to which Sharpe agreed: “Exactly.”
“They own everything. You hear me? Boy, if you were to peel back the layers,” Ochocinco continued.
A former tight end, Sharpe had a long career in sports broadcasting following his NFL retirement, with another one of his podcasts, “Club Shay Shay,” winning an NAACP Image Award earlier this year. The show frequently goes viral: Sharpe’s interview with comedian Katt Williams last year has racked up nearly 100 million views and inspired a “Saturday Night Live” sketch.
ESPN abruptly cut ties with Sharpe this summer following a sexual assault investigation, but he continues to be a popular Internet personality. His podcasts are defined by a loose, freeform approach that uses sports as a jumping-off point for a range of other topics.
The two men were taking on Jewish video-gaming livestreamer Adin Ross, himself a polarizing personality who hosted Donald Trump during the 2024 presidential campaign. Ross has interviewed and/or maintained friendly relationships with openly antisemitic figures including Nick Fuentes, Andrew Tate and fellow livestreamer Sneako. On a recent livestream of his own, Ross had admitted that he sings the N-word when singing along to rap music.
This remark offended Sharpe and Ochocinco, who used their show to claim that public figures refuse to make derogatory comments about Jews in the same way they might use the N-word.
“It’s funny how they pick and choose,” Sharpe said. “I’m old enough to remember when Jesse Jackson was running for president, and he said something, he called New York, he called it a derogatory term, had to apologize. Michael Jackson used the term once upon a time, had to apologize.”
In 1984, Jesse Jackson apologized on the campaign trail after referring to New York as “Hymietown.” In 1995, Michael Jackson apologized after releasing a single containing the line, “Jew me, sue me, everybody do me/ Kick me, kike me, don’t you black or white me.” After initially agreeing to change the lyrics he later released a music video of the song with the original lyrics, over Jewish groups’ objections.
It was initially unclear if Sharpe and Ochocinco were aware that Ross is Jewish, though Sharpe later acknowledged this after reading messages in his chat. The pair did take time to praise “Inglorious Basterds,” the Quentin Tarantino movie about Jewish World War II soldiers taking revenge on Hitler, as a “great movie.”
On his own stream, Ross briefly took time out from playing video games to laugh off the remarks.
“I’m a fan of you, Shannon. I like you. I think you’re a hell of a guy,” he said, adding, “Nick Fuentes got something in the air, bro” — referring to the openly antisemitic livestreamer’s recent political ascendancy.
Ross disputed Sharpe’s claim that Jews aren’t subject to antisemitic terms on a regular basis, listing all the derogatory names his own followers routinely call him. As he talked, he repeatedly laughed at his friend Sneako posting antisemitic content in the chat.
“I get called a kike every day,” Ross said. “Nobody’s safe out here.” He concluded by inviting Sharpe and Ochocinco to work with him.
“I want to do a stream with these two guys, bro,” he said. “It’d be a fun time.”
