Stephen A Smith & Shannon Sharpe Carried Skip Bayless & Not the Other Way Around: Cam Newton

Cam Newton isn’t gonna let Skip Bayless leave in peace. In a scathing critique of the analyst, as he leaves his current position on Undisputed, the former quarterback, on his podcast ‘4th&1’ accused Bayless of overestimating his own importance and influence in the sports media world.

Ever since Bayless lost his partnership with Stephen A. Smith and Shannon Sharpe, his value and credibility as an entertainer and analyst have come under some scrutiny. Newton compared Smith and Sharpe to basketball legends Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, respectively, asserting that they were the true stars of their shows, while Bayless was merely a supporting player:

“You had Kobe Bryant, and you had LeBron James. And none of them want to f*ck with you right now…And we see now that they carried you, instead of how you make it seem, you carried them…You’re not the main attraction, Skip; you were the co-host being treated as if you were bigger.”

He further pointed to the success that Skip’s former co-stars are now experiencing after they left his shadow and pursued their individual careers. Newton also criticized Bayless for embarrassing both Sharpe and Smith on national television and making them feel small.

Bayless’s misrepresentation as the main attraction, Newton hypothesized, is what led to his downfall as he attempted to continue Undisputed without Sharpe. In fact, ever since Sharpe left the FS1 show, the ratings had been on a downward spiral.

The Downfall of Undisputed

Since Shannon Sharpe’s departure from Undisputed in June 2023, the show’s ratings have taken a significant hit. According to the Front Office Sports report, Sharpe’s final episodes in June averaged 154,000 viewers, while First Take averaged 421,000 viewers during the same period.

This gap has only widened since then, with First Take nearly tripling the audience of Bayless’ revamped Undisputed Live in its debut week.

Since Sharpe’s move to First Take, the show has seen a significant increase in viewership. On Mondays and Tuesdays, when Sharpe joins Stephen A. Smith, the show averages 671,500 viewers over the two-day period. Clearly, Sharpe’s exit from the show was the catalyst for the downfall of Undisputed.

Audiences loved watching the banter between Sharpe and Bayless, and the show’s attempts to bring that back in the form of other guests such as Richard Sherman, Paul Pierce, and Keyshawn Johnson clearly did not capture the same magic.