Shannon Sharpe Reflects On Being Fired From UNDISPUTED
Shannon Sharpe – Source: Marcus Ingram / Getty
Shannon Sharpe is breaking his silence on being fired from his former show.
Last year during the NBA playoffs, news broke that Shannon Sharpe would be departing FS1’s hit show Undisputed. The show debuted in September of 2016 but by the summer of 2023, the tension between Shannon Sharpe and his co-host Skip Bayless reached the point of no return.
Fans who watch the show saw the viral flare-up between the hosts over Tom Brady where Skip took personal shots at Shannon. Previously Shannon revealed it took a lot not to put his hands on Skip over the disrepect he felt.
After reaching a buyout agreement with FS1 the partnership ended and Stephen A. Smith broke the news Shannon was “pushed out” of FS1.
According to Awful Announcing, Sharpe was the latest guest on The Black Money Tree with host Jerome D. and reflected on being first after a year on his own.
“I’d be lying if I told you I thought I would be where I am right now at this point in time,” Sharpe admitted. “Did I think it was possible? Yes. But I thought it was going to take me a lot longer than what it actually took me. It’s tough. People are like, ‘Well, Shannon, why did you get so emotional?’ Because if you knew what I put into that job, you would understand. The greater the expectation, the greater the hurt when it doesn’t work out. And I poured so much into that. I gave up everything. I lost relationships because I couldn’t go out to dinner, I couldn’t go on vacations…I had to watch all the sporting events because I gotta be able to talk about them on television and talk about them expertly. So, it cost me a lot.”
Sometimes things come to an end for bigger blessings to come to your doorstep. Still, Shannon continued to speak to the hurt he felt; honestly, it seems the hurt is still there.
“I believed I could be where I am today, but I just thought it was going to take me a couple years,” Sharpe continued. “But to say that it didn’t hurt to leave – because it did. Because of what I put into that…it hurt me to lose because I put so much into that job. Now, I look at it and say, ‘I’m no longer talent.’ You can’t fire me from Shay Shay Media, because I own it. You can’t fire me from Nightcap, you can’t fire me from Club Shay Shay, I own it. That’s the way I look at my business now, you’re gonna be my partner. You’re no longer just going to cut me a check to do something.”
In the case of Shannon, he has flourished in every way since leaving Skip and UNDISPUTED. Meanwhile, the show that fired him is struggling to remain relevant with a vast rotation of co-hosts. If you’ve watched the show recently you can feel the chemistry between Skip and Shannon was special. Unfortunately in the moment, nobody understood how special it was and that it wouldn’t be replicated.
You can watch Shannon discuss his life after UNDISPUTED below.
