Shannon Sharpe and his FS1 co-host Skip Bayless engaged in a fairly typical episode of ‘Undisputed’ on Wednesday. The two debated aspects of the upcoming NBA Finals, while sneaking in some light-hearted jabs, sharing a few laughs, and even bumping fists at one point.
The long-time tag team did not acknowledge their imminent split or their recent on-air friction, but devotees of the sports-debate show all know what lies beneath the surface. As the New York Post reported, Sharpe has reached a buyout with Fox Sports, and will be leaving after the NBA Finals. What’s more, he’ll be taking his popular podcast off Fox Sports’ platform as he makes a clean break from the network.
The news hardly comes as a surprise. The two grew acrimonious during several on-air debates, including one over Bayless’ ostensibly flippant tweet in the wake of Damar Hamlin’s on-field cardiac arrest in early January. But it was a personal insult – Bayless’ suggestion in December that Sharpe was somehow jealous of Tom Brady – that may have sealed their fate.
‘The moment Skip claimed Shannon was ‘jealous’ of Tom Brady, and Shannon took his glasses off, that was the moment they were separated,’ Fox Sports host Parker told the Post. ‘Skip even told him to put his glasses back on, and Skip didn’t like that at all.’
Here DailyMail.com takes a look at Bayless, Sharpe and the moments that led to their bitter split:
Shannon Sharpe (right) and Skip Bayless (left) are splitting up after seven years together
SKIP BAYLESS
An award-winning sports columnist and reporter for the Chicago Tribune, Dallas Morning News, Dallas Times Herald, Miami Herald and Los Angeles Times, the 71-year-old Bayless has defined himself as the humorless heel of sports debate shows.
He first introduced himself to a younger audience alongside Stephen A. Smith on ESPN’s First Take before moving on to Fox Sports in 2016.
Since then, the Oklahoma native has become known as a Dallas Cowboys loyalist, LeBron James hater, and Tom Brady apologist, while fighting Sharpe for creative control of Undisputed.
SHANNON SHARPE
The younger brother of former Packers receiver and ESPN commentator Sterling Sharpe, Shannon entered broadcasting as an NFL analyst for CBS before joining Undisputed in 2016.
Since then, the Hall of Fame tight end has become one of the more progressive voices in sports media, while calling out the NFL over racist hiring practices.
He’s also developed a reputation as a staunch LeBron advocate, who frequently defends younger athletes against Bayless’ insults.
BAYLESS SWIPES AT SHARPE OVER TWITTER FOLLOWING
One of the first signs of trouble surfaced in November of 2022.
As the two debated then-Panthers QB Baker Mayfield’s performance against the Ravens, Bayless decided to diminish Sharpe over his Twitter following.
‘You and your four Twitter followers,’ Bayless said.
Bayless has 3.2 million followers, compared to 1.2 million for Sharpe.
‘You can talk about my Twitter followers all you want, but I got you dead to rights,’ Sharpe hollered. ‘You see how he do it America? He talk about my Twitter followers! That’s how I know I got him!’
Bayless impatiently yelled back, ‘Tell me when it’s my turn!’ before repeatedly saying ‘blah, blah, blah’ as Sharpe continued to criticize Mayfield.
Bayless said Sharpe was jealous that Brady played until 45 – 10 years longer than his co-host
TOM BRADY DEBATE
With Brady struggling towards the end of what would become his final NFL season, Bayless once again found himself defending the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback.
‘Wait a minute, this is just straight hate by a guy who is jealous that [Brady is] still playing at a high level at 45 when you had to stop at 35,’ Bayless told Sharpe, a three-time Super Bowl champion with the Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens.
‘That’s what you do,’ Sharpe snapped back. ‘Every time I call something into question, I’m jealous.
‘Skip, I did what I did. You make it seem like I was a bum!’ he continued. ‘I’m in the effing Hall of Fame. I’ve got three Super Bowls.
‘See what you do, you take personal shots. … You’re willing to take a personal shot at me to say this man is better than me because I say he’s playing bad this year?
‘You would disrespect me to support him!’
BAYLESS STANDS BY HAMLIN TWEET AFTER SHARPE SKIPS SHOW
Bayless defiantly refused to delete a tweet questioning the NFL’s decision to postpone the January 2 Bills-Bengals game following Hamlin’s on-field cardiac arrest.
Bayless was slammed by critics over the post, which he apologized for during the following episode of ‘Undisputed’ in the mysterious absence Sharpe.
Sharpe returned to the sports debate program the following day, but couldn’t get through his monologue without being interrupted by the surly Bayless.
‘Skip tweeted something, and although I disagreed with the tweet, and hopefully Skip will take it down,’ Sharpe said before Bayless interjected.
‘Timeout,’ Bayless said Wednesday. ‘I’m not going to take it down, because I stand by what I tweeted.’
Many, including Sharpe, took offense at Bayless’ tweet, which was seen as flippant
Bayless’ offending tweet came as Hamlin was being resuscitated on the Paycor Stadium turf
Bayless’ offending tweet came as Hamlin was being resuscitated on the Paycor Stadium turf.
‘No doubt the NFL is considering postponing the rest of this game – but how?’ Bayless asked in his tweet. ‘This late in the season, a game of this magnitude is crucial to the regular-season outcome… which suddenly seems so irrelevant.’
The game was ultimately postponed indefinitely and later canceled entirely.
‘There’s been a lot of speculation on why I wasn’t on air yesterday, and I won’t get into speculation, conjecture, innuendo, but I will say this: Watching that game on Monday night, what happened to Damar Hamlin struck me a little different,’ Sharpe said to start Wednesday’s program.
‘As the brotherhood of the NFL, when injuries happen – and we know injuries are part of the game, I’ve seen guys suffer for ACLs and achilles tear – but I’ve never had to see anybody have to be revived and fight for their life on the field, so it struck me a little differently, because I remember seeing my brother [former Packers receiver Sterling Sharpe] paralyzed on the field, temporarily, and he was able to regain focus.
It was then that Bayless interrupted Bayless for the first time.
‘Skip, let me finish,’ Sharpe told his long-time co-host.
‘No, you go,’ Bayless said, appearing to relent.
Sharpe snapped back: ‘I can’t even get through a monologue without you interrupting me.’
Sharpe then tried to refocus the conversation by referencing his absence, and reiterating his concern for Hamlin.
‘I was just gonna say, Skip, I didn’t want, yesterday, to get into a situation where Damar Hamlin was the issue,’ Sharpe continued. ‘We should be talking about him, and not get into your tweet.
‘That’s what I was gonna do. But you can’t even let me finish my opening monologue without you interrupting.’
Bayless was apparently unaware that Sharpe would address the issue on the show.
‘I was under the impression you weren’t going to bring this up, because nobody here had a problem with that tweet,’ Bayless said.
Bayless (right) defiantly refused to delete the Hamlin tweet amid criticism from Sharpe
Sharpe disagreed.
‘Clearly the bosses wanted you to offer an explanation,’ Sharpe said.
Bayless calmly responded: ‘No, they didn’t.’
Both Bayless and Sharpe appeared to be agitated as the segment came to an end, but refrained from raising their voices again.
In February, Sharpe discussed the incident on Adam Schein’s podcast, saying the two had gotten over their bad blood.
‘I wasn’t gonna allow two bad months to ruin six years of a great working relationship,’ Sharpe told Schein. ‘We have a great working relationship.’
Shannon Sharpe liked a tweet that suggested a rift with Undisputed co-host Skip Bayless
SHARPE LIKES TWEET CRITICAL OF BAYLESS
In perhaps the clearest sign of friction between the two, Sharpe ‘liked’ a tweet ripping Bayless this week.
‘Their relationship got progressively worse over the last 2 maybe 3 years because skip fought for him to be on that show but I feel like skip couldn’t stand Shannon succeeding without and that’s when skip was taking pot shots on air,’ read the fan tweet.
Sharpe also liked a couple of other tweets commenting on the split, one which also took a slight dig at Bayless.
‘I only watched because of @ShannonSharpe, whatever you do next I’m watching,’ it read.
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
