Marcellus Wiley put the Shannon Sharpe and Skip Bayless cards on the table, and it seems it all boils down to a “power struggle” between the two “Undisputed” cohosts.
Sharpe recently announced his parting ways with Bayless and Fox Sports, the parent company of Fox Sports 1 which airs the show, and his final show is expected to air after the NBA Finals come to an end in June.
The news was first reported by The Post’s Ryan Glasspiegel.
Bayless started on FSI in 2016 after leaving his ESPN “First Take” partnership with Stephen A. Smith, seemingly with ultimate power over his new show with the network.
“Skip Bayless runs that show and he’s always run that show. And by the stripes on his sleeve, he should run that show,” the former FS1 host and former NFL defensive end said. “So, you gotta give him respect for that in terms of the daily shows.”
“With that risk comes a great reward, including the power that Skip Bayless has. Not only does Skip Bayless make the most money over there, he has the most power in terms of how he runs this show. Colin [Cowherd] runs his show, but also Colin will be a little more open minded in terms of his show, a little more. But not Skip, oh no no no no,” Wiley added.
Wiley, 48, noted that Sharpe began to grow more popular than Bayless after joining as his cohost based on podcast numbers and social media engagements.
“Shannon is POPPIN’, even more than you, Skip,” he said.
But, the popularity can only take you so far when on a show with Skip, Wiley said. “Nothing is changing” because “you still have to be under him in terms of the terms of the show.”
The pair began to hit heads, notably after Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field against the Bengals this past season.
Bayless published a tweet after the collapse but before the game was canceled, saying “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.”
Amid wide outrage about the Bayless’ tweet, Sharpe stayed home the following morning and upon returning a day later, he explained he wished Bayless had deleted the tweet, but Bayless stood by what he said.
A number of times, Shannon also had to ask Skip if he could speak.
Otherwise, it was difficult for him to get a word in.
“I cannot even get through a monologue without you interrupting me,” Sharpe said.
“They’re not talking like friends,” said Wiley. “They’re not even talking like friends that are beefing. They’re talking like strangers.
“And Skip knew he could always talk to Shannon — the Hall of Famer, the three-time Super Bowl champion — ’cause he knew he controlled the show. But more than that, Skip also felt that he could control the show and control Shannon’s job security. That’s why this has come to an end because Shannon finally smelled the roses. Finally just took a big inhale and was like ‘Why do I have to deal with all of this?'”
Those close to Sharpe, 54, told Wiley he did not seek to be the lead host of the show, but rather to be an equal with Bayless.
“This wasn’t hard to figure out, if you had the proper information. Because I used to work there, I was privy to that information that most of you guys weren’t,” Wiley said. “So, putting this all together, what happened was, there was a power struggle. There was a power dynamic that shifted right before their very eyes and they didn’t want to adjust to.
“And I say ‘they’ because I’m sure Shannon wanted to adjust it, it’s just Skip was stuck in his ways. So, now Skip is going to be stuck without the popular cohost named Shannon Sharpe.”