Fox Sports 1’s sports talk show Undisputed will carry on without Shannon Sharpe, who is set to leave the show after reaching a buyout agreement, Ryan Glasspiegel of the New York Post reports.
Sharpe will remain on the show throughout the NBA Finals in June but will be gone shortly after, however a specific date has not been specified.
Very public beef between Sharpe and his co-host Skip Bayless began after Bayless posted a controvesial tweet about NFL player Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest on the field in January.
“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 tweeted.
For context, Buffalo Bills safety Hamlin was in a critical condition after collapsing during the first quarter of a game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The NFL suspended the game within an hour after incident and advised it would not resume.
Sharpe didn’t appear on Undisputed the morning after the tweet but when he returned, he told Bayless he wished he would take the tweet down.
But Bayless held firm and the two had a disagreement on air about if Fox’s bosses wanted Bayless to explain himself.
Unc Shannon sharpe was explaining why he wasn’t on undisputed yesterday & this man Skip bayless gonna interrupt him when Shannon tells him to take down the tweet of damar Hamlin 🤦🏾♂️🤦🏾♂️🤦🏾♂️ pic.twitter.com/hQQK0njiQZ
— Shannonnn sharpes Burner (PARODY Account) (@shannonsharpeee) January 4, 2023
Thankfully, Hamlin made a full recovery was cleared by three specialists to return to football in April.
He was participating in practice for the second week in a row this week but obviously, Bayless’ comments at the time were very much in poor taste.
Another thing that seemed to grate on Sharpe was Bayless’ deep dislike and criticisms of Lakers star LeBron James – someone who Sharpe has a close relationship with.
Sharpe’s podcast, Club Shay Shay, which has a large following on social media is also leaving the Fox network.
Skip will stay on his four-year, $32 million contract that was signed in March 2021 but it’s unclear who his next victim / co-host will be.
Sharpe teamed up with Bayless back in 2016 following Skip’s exit from ESPN where he used to co-host First Take with the notorious Stephen A. Smith.