It was one of the hottest fleeting mysteries on Sports Twitter: Did Julio Jones know he was on TV when he told Shannon Sharpe he wants out of Atlanta? If not, the newsworthy phone call could’ve landed Fox Sports in legal jeopardy.
But now, we know the episode was almost certainly staged. The clues are in the Twitter trail. One day later, Sharpe’s video of the call is still posted. That wouldn’t be the case if the conversation was recorded without Jones’ consent, says sports law attorney Dan Lust, who initially questioned the legality of the apparent stunt.
"I wasn’t 100 percent sure, but then Shannon Sharpe tweeted it out,” Lust said. “If it was legit, legal would’ve made him take it down once all the lawyers, including myself, started saying, ‘Hey, this is illegal.’ But the tweet is still up 24 hours later, so that’s as big of a clue as you’re going to get.”
On a second (or 70th) viewing, the tone of the conversation also indicates the call was preplanned. For starters, it would be serendipitous if Sharpe phoned Jones without warning, and he picked up after just two rings. Nobody answers after just two rings.
The second clue comes when Jones starts speaking. Skip Bayless screams, “yeah!,” and the host, Jenny Taff, excitedly says “alright!” And yet, Jones didn’t ask Sharpe where he was, or if anybody else was with him.
Then 20 seconds later, Jones says he’s “out of” Atlanta. These gossip girls apparently waste no time!
Still, even if Jones knew Sharpe was going to call, consent laws still could’ve been violated. “Undisputed” is filmed in California, which is a two-party state, meaning the interviewer needs to ask the interviewee if they are OK with being recorded. Sharpe could’ve asked Jones to pick up the phone when he called, but might’ve not explicitly mentioned they were going to be on the air. That would be illegal.
But for a criminal complaint to be issued, there usually needs to be a supporting witness. It doesn’t seem as if Jones is upset, because again, the clips are still all over social media 24 hours later.
"In theory, could you prove a case without Julio Jones? Sure,” Lust said. “But is a district attorney going to take the case? Probably not. The general thumb is, you need a live person to support the charges.”
Assuming Jones doesn’t raise any issues, the segment was a coup for “Undisputed.” Now, we can spend the next several days (or weeks) conjuring up creative ways to get Jones to the Pats. Content always wins.
