Stephen A. Smith on broken relationship with Skip Bayless: ‘We can’t vibe’

If the relationship between Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless is ever going to be repaired, Smith believes it’s on Bayless to make the next move.

Bayless has mostly maintained a positive relationship with Smith since he parted ways with ESPN and First Take in 2016. But in recent years, that relationship has faltered, with Smith now pinning some blame on Bayless. According to Smith, it wasn’t anything Bayless said that caused their relationship to fade, it’s what he didn’t say.

Smith was recently interviewed by Cam’ron on an episode of Talk with Flee, where the First Take host opened up about his relationship with Bayless.

“When I say we don’t have a relationship, it’s not anything negative from my end,” Smith claimed. “It’s me letting you know, ‘Yo, bro, I picked up the phone on several occasions.’ He never called me back. To me, if you that kind of person, that doesn’t make you bad, it just means that we can’t vibe. Because I’m gonna answer a call.

“I got a lot of people over the last year or two that have really, really pissed me off. I’m picking up the phone if they call. There’s only one person that I won’t pick up the phone for, everybody knows who that is…Skip had his right not to pick up the phone when the whole Shannon thing was going down and that’s fine. That’s his prerogative. But live with that.”

The whole Shannon thing Smith’s referring to was the Dec. 2022 blowup on Undisputed where a debate about Tom Brady turned personal, leading Bayless to infamously tell Shannon Sharpe, “put your glasses back on.” It put a strain on Bayless and Sharpe’s relationship, with the hosts parting ways shortly after. And apparently, it put a strain on Bayless’s relationship with Smith too.

“Our relationship goes back too long for me not to get a call from you when I called you. When you made that decision, cool. Live with your decision,” Smith continued. “I will always love Skip, even when I adamantly and emphatically disagree with some of the things he says and does. But the part about not calling me back? Not answering my call? Nah, bro. Anybody that knows me, family included, anybody that knows me knows you don’t get too many shots with that with me. I don’t pick up the phone too often to call you. If you don’t answer my call, you don’t answer my call.”

Smith previously admitted he was calling Bayless to tell him he was “flagrantly” wrong about Sharpe. And Bayless doesn’t seem like the type of person who wants to hear he was “flagrantly” wrong about anything from anyone.

[You’re Welcome Network]