Shannon Sharpe Has Reached His Breaking Point With Skip Bayless, Is Reportedly Done With 'Undisputed' After The NBA Finals
Cindy Ord. Getty Images.[NY Post]
"Shannon Sharpe’s partnership with Skip Bayless soon will be coming to a conclusion.
"Sharpe and Fox Sports, the parent company of Fox Sports 1, which airs “Undisputed,” have reached a buyout agreement, sources have told The Post.
"Sharpe’s final show is expected to be aired after the 2023 NBA Finals conclude in June.
"Sharpe’s popular 'Club Shay Shay' podcast, which draws a big audience on social media and YouTube, will also be leaving Fox Sports, a source said."
Not a massive surprise. I will miss Shannon Sharpe repeatedly, incredulously saying "SKIP SKIP SKIP SKIP SKIP" and by that I mean, I will miss the idea of it. Because I don't watch Undisputed really ever. Only clips here and there on the social mediazz. Because Skip Bayless is the absolute worst.
Look no further than this recent blog by John Rich for proof of that.
Money talks, but you can only make so much of it if you're Shannon Sharpe whilst putting up with Skip's bullshit. If I were Sharpe, I'd be going up to Skip at least once a week to drop the infamous line Tommy Lee Jones smacked Jim Carrey with amid their tense working relationship on Batman Forever: "I cannot sanction your buffoonery."
The Post article expounds upon the heated debate (one of many) Sharpe and Skip got into over the years, but one that may have been the tipping point: The Damar Hamlin situation. That whole awful controversy where Skip, for the umpteenth time, couldn't read the room, had zero sensitivity or empathy for Hamlin when he collapsed to the turf, and instead of actually, you know, opening his mind to how he might've been ever so slightly in the wrong, decided to interrupt Sharpe when he explained why he wasn't on air the day prior:
Speculation is swirling, too, that perhaps Sharpe had had enough once Skip tried to use the merits of Tom Brady's career as a means of tearing down his longtime cohost with a personal attack:
Can't imagine being that dense to not take into account how Sharpe helped revolutionize the tight end position as a pass-catcher and is in the damn Hall of Fame..and then trying to present this apples-to-apples comparison between Sharpe and a quarterback. Uhh, Skip? Maybe the fact that Tom Brady plays QB in an era where those guys are hyper-protected has something to do with why he lasted to age 45 in the NFL, whereas Sharpe was 35 when he retired.
I'm sure some high-profile media talent will take Sharpe's seat and Skip's perpetual weekly serving of nonsense will continue to generate ratings and make him and Fox lots of money. Good for them. Still ain't gonna tune in. I made vague reference to Tommy Lee Jones' Two-Face earlier. Wait till you see this little cutup of Skip Bayless on Aaron Rodgers over however long of a span.
Gonna stick to after-the-fact threads of Shannon being hilarious when it comes to anything Undisputed-adjacent, and wish the three-time Super Bowl champion well in his future endeavors.
Even though McAfee just went to the four-letter network, wouldn't surprise me to see Sharpe's next stop be at ESPN. We shall see.
Twitter @MattFitz_gerald/TikTok