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.

Watchers saw the viral flare-up between the hosts over Tom Brady and Sharpe revealed that he struggled to control himself when Bayless took personal digs.

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 podcast with Jerome D and he reflected on life post-Undisputed. 

“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.

He continued,

“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 but it sounds like there’s still some pain associated with Sharpe’s firing.

“I believed I could be where I am today, but I just thought it was going to take me a couple years,”he added “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 the show that fired him is struggling to remain relevant with a vast rotation of co-hosts. If you’ve watched tthe show then you were aware that the sports commentary chemistry between Skip and Shannon was special and it looks like it can’t be replicated.