Shannon Sharpe is coming clean about his wild social media activity on Wednesday ... admitting he was not actually hacked when his Instagram went live during a sex act.
The Denver Broncos legend opened up on the shocking incident on his "Nightcap" show just minutes ago ... and he's chalking it all up to not being very tech-savvy.
"Obviously, I'm embarrassed for someone who is extremely private." Sharpe said ... adding he's "disappointed" in himself -- not for engaging in the act, but for the aftermath, especially how it affected people in his circle.
As for some internet speculation surrounding the broadcast, Sharpe denied it was staged or a prank -- claiming he just threw his phone on his bed before getting busy with an unidentified woman ... and as luck would have it, all the right buttons were pressed to go live.
Sharpe's co-host, Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson weighed in ... saying his phone was blowing up so much after it happened, he initially thought a family member died.
The two eventually changed the mood and joked about the matter ... and Sharpe even claimed he's keeping his phone in the car before sex moving forward.
As we previously reported, Sharpe quickly became a hot topic on social media ... after the Hall of Famer's profile went live during an apparent sex act. His page posted a story shortly after ... claiming his account was hacked.
Sharpe said a member of his team shared the message to try to de-escalate the situation ... but the ESPN talent felt it was better to just tell the truth.