A major change happened in the world of sports media recently. After a lengthy spell as the debate partner for Skip Bayless on Undisputed, Shannon Sharpe left Fox Sports and made the move over to ESPN, where he’s slated to join Stephen A. Smith and the First Take crew twice a week during the 2023 NFL season. From the moment Sharpe left Fox, Smith made clear that he wanted to bring him on board as part of the rotating cast of personalities with whom he debates, and despite Sharpe’s need to kick one particular habit that led to Smith getting off a joke at his expense, the two have been an excellent fit alongside one another.
During a recent appearance on The Joe Budden Podcast, Smith was asked about his immediate recruitment of Sharpe following his departure from Fox and how he’s taken some shots at Bayless over the last few weeks. Smith didn’t just answer, he claimed to know more than anyone has let on about how Sharpe didn’t exactly want to see his tenure at Fox come to an end.
Joe Budden: “That’s a jab! You went after the [Undisputed] co-host so soon.”
Stephen A. Smith: “I didn’t look at it that way. I would’ve if Shannon [Sharpe] left of his own volition”
SAS says Shannon was pushed out of Undisputed 😯
(via @JoeBuddenPod)pic.twitter.com/Y1TIdF4Dcw
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) September 13, 2023
“The second that Shannon became available — and I like that you did this, by the way, I like that you said, ‘Make no qualms, I would like him over here,’” Budden said. “I like that for the business. But for the Skip stuff, I was like, oh, that’s a jab, that hurts, you’re gonna go after the co-host so soon. You didn’t care.”
Smith then said that things didn’t go exactly the way that Budden laid them out before dropping a bombshell regarding the circumstances of Sharpe’s departure.
“I would have looked at it that way if Shannon left on his own volition,” Smith said. “I’m telling you he didn’t. I’m telling you he was pushed out … and it’s fact. Now, they can deny it, he wouldn’t, I can promise you that. He was pushed out. He didn’t want to leave. He was notified that your services will no longer be needed. But again, that’s his story to tell, but I’m telling you what I know, I’m giving you facts.”
Smith then got into why this went beyond wanting to bring in someone whose credentials in the world of sports and sports media are second to none, and how he saw a reflection of himself and his journey in Sharpe.
“I saw me from the standpoint of, I was let go in 2009 and left for dead, and they were writing my epitaph and they were like, ‘Stephen A’s career is over, he blew it, he had the opportunity of a lifetime, he effed it up and blah blah blah,’” Smith said. “And I was like, there was nobody in the present day Stephen A. Smith’s position as the guy in sports media, as the executive producer for the No. 1 sports morning show, that could speak up for me at that time. And I said this is why I’m here, it’s my responsibility.”
Our hunch is that this is going to get addressed by Bayless, and perhaps Sharpe will open up about his departure at some point in the future. Regardless, this is a pretty major allegation from Smith.
