Skip Bayless officially departed FS1 last Friday after hosting his final episode of Undisputed, the network’s morning sports debate program. For Bayless, it ended a run of eight years on the air with the network, the last of which he spent working with a rotation of different on-air contributors such as Keyshawn Johnson, Michael Irvin, Richard Sherman, Rachel Nichols and Paul Pierce. Rather than addressing his departure on the air or having a farewell program akin to his former partner Shannon Sharpe, Bayless opted to host the episode to the best of his ability and go from there.
Bayless will continue hosting The Skip Bayless Show, and he released an episode on Wednesday that began with an explanation regarding his departure from FS1. After the show concluded on Friday, he learned that people on social media were criticizing the network for not providing him the same sendoff as his longtime partner.
“That is not true, and that is not fair,” Bayless said. “I was offered exactly the same kind of farewell festivities that Shannon received, but I declined. I’m not very good at mushy-gushy, and I am definitely not retiring, so I chose to just do the very best show that I could for my last show and then just move on.”
Ryan Glasspiegel of the New York Post was the first to report that Bayless would be leaving the network at some point during the summer. A subsequent report by Richard Deitsch and Andrew Marchand of The Athletic indicated that FS1 may look to retire the show name entirely and put a new program in its place. FS1 recently refined its programming lineup by expanding afternoon shows First Things First and Speak to two-hour programs. As for Bayless, he is excited about what is coming next and will reveal “all of the above” as the launch of the NFL season approaches.
Sharpe left FS1 last June and announced later in the summer that he was joining ESPN as a contributor to First Take and bringing his Club Shay Shay podcast to The Volume as part of a larger content agreement with the company. Within his time in both ventures, he has contributed to viewership gains and been part of several viral moments on the internet, along with commencing a new podcast titled Nightcap with Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson and Gilbert Arenas.
At the same time, he has expanded his independent Shay Shay Media brand through these ventures. While Sharpe had an emotional farewell, Bayless preferred to take part in the show as usual and did not reveal that it was his last episode until after the fact on X.
“I saved all my hugs off camera for real,” Bayless said. “I have a whole lot of friends at FOX, and as I’ve told Eric Shanks, the head of FOX Sports, he created, he established, he fostered a great working environment,” Bayless said. “It is a great culture at FOX, and I immensely enjoyed every single day for eight years that I worked there. FOX takes care of its people – I loved my time at FOX.”
