Stephen A. Smith Admits Strained Relationship With Former Co-Host Skip Bayless

ESPN‘s Stephen A. Smith and former FS1 personality Skip Bayless (Undisputed) were once co-hosts in the early days of First Take and had a casual friendship over the years despite being on competing networks. That changed after Bayless and current First Take co-host and former Undisputed co-host Shannon Sharpe bumped heads. The former football player was disrespected by Bayless on-air during one episode of Undisputed and Smith reached out to Bayless to tell him he was wrong for treating Sharpe in that manner. Smith confirmed that Bayless never responded.

Smith reiterated that point in a recent episode of Fully Loaded hosted by former NFL player, Cris Carter. The popular sports analyst stated that the last time the two men spoke was in 2022 over a misunderstanding. He stated the last conversation they had was due to something that was said while appearing on a podcast that current Los Angeles Lakers head coach, J.J. Redick had, The Old Man and the Three.

“We’ve only spoken once over the last year, a year and a half or so,” Smith recalled. “We don’t speak much anymore. He got upset over something he thought I said to J.J. Redick and he went on his podcast and attacked me for about 45 minutes. And then I flew to California and approached him face-to-face and we resolved that issue.”

Smith declared that he would never “speak against him per see,” but his relationship with Bayless has not been the same since that encounter.

Yet, Smith said he reached back out to Bayless after the on-air disrespect that Bayless did toward Sharpe, which led to the NFL Hall of Famer leaving Undisputed and connecting with Smith on First Take.

“I thought he was wrong about Shannon,” Smith said. “I thought what he did to Shannon was flagrantly wrong. And I called him, and he never reached back out. So, I stopped reaching out.”

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Stephen A. Smith Admits Strained Relationship With Former Co-Host Skip Bayless