Shannon Sharpe to leave FS1's Undisputed, per report
Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe is set to leave FS1‘s “Undisputed” this summer, bringing an end to a 7-year partnership with Skip Bayless.
Per Ryan Glasspiegel of the New York Post, Sharpe is expected to wrap up his duties following the conclusion of the 2023 NBA Finals between the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat after reaching a buyout with Fox Sports. Sharpe’s “Club Shay Shay” podcast will also be leaving the network. It is currently unclear what FS1 will do to replace Sharpe on “Undisputed.”
Sharpe, 54, joined FS1 in 2016 alongside Bayless after the latter left ESPN‘s “First Take.” Sharpe filled in for Stephen A. Smith on multiple occasions, showing off his chemistry with Bayless. That chemistry made things easy for Fox Sports when they searched for a debating partner for Bayless.
In recent months, however, that partnership has been tested stemming from a controversial tweet Bayless put out after Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest during a Week 17 game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
“No doubt the NFL is considering postponing the rest of this game – but how? This late in the season, a game of this magnitude is crucial to the regular-season outcome … which suddenly seems so irrelevant,” Bayless wrote.
Shannon Sharpe leaving FS1 months after public tension with Skip Bayless
Sharpe no-showed “Undisputed” the following day. When he returned the next morning, he called out Bayless for not taking the tweet down. Bayless, meanwhile, said he stood by it.
“Let me finish,” Sharpe said. “I mean, I cannot even get through a monologue without you interrupting. … You can’t even let me finish my opening monologue.”
Former FS1 host Marcellus Wiley predicted the two were headed for a breakup.
“Reminds me of a Wiley-ism: Any relationship that ends, you spend half your time breaking up. What we’re witnessing right now, on live TV, is them breaking up,” Wiley said. “You could tell they don’t even speak outside the building, outside the show. Want to know how I know? We all saw it. Felt like an ambush to Skip…
“Man, stop playing with me. This is not about a tweet. This is not about Brady being better than Shannon. This isn’t about none of them arguments. You know what this is? This is primal… two alphas fighting for territory. This is about power. Because that dynamic of power on that show has shifted, whether it’s real or imagined. Right now, we’re all seeing that battle for it. Let’s see who comes out undisputed.”