A Katt Williams Interview Made Shannon Sharpe’s “Club Shay Shay” a Hit

Shannon Sharpe won three Super Bowls in a race in the Hall of Fame and once registered 214 reception yards in a game, the greatest amount of a closed wing of the National Soccer League. Another achievement of coronation occurred long after he surpassed bulky defenders, when he convinced a 5 -foot and 5 -inch comedian to open while drinking cognac on a brown leather sofa.

When that comedian and actor, Katt Williams, issued his complaints against prominent black celebrities, included Sean combs and Kevin Hart, instantly converted the podcast of Sharpe “Club Shay” into a must. In the months after the episode, since January 2024, Sharpe assured interviews with rapper Megan Tea Stallion and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

“‘Club Shay Shay’ has become the modern interview program,” said Lillian Xu, a leading podcast executive for average Vox, which produces a handful of rival series.

Sharpe has gone through a saturated podcast ecosystem where Alex Cooper and Kelce Brothers Command Nine-Cifre hire. In addition to “Club Shay Shay”, Sharpe makes appearances twice in the week in “First Take”, the popular morning debate program of ESPN, and presents a secondary podcast, “Nightcap”, with the former NFL receiver Chad Johnson.

Before a live recording of an “Nightcap” episode in New Orleans this week before the Super Bowl, Sharpe exercised his vocal cords in a green room in the backstage while a makeup artist prepared to give palmaditas on his face. Moments later, his voice, mixed with a field color accent, rose through an auditorium. Friends discussed the NFL award winners, Johnson’s relationship problems and other issues.

The explosive episode with Williams in “Club Shay” has seen more than 88 million times, establishing a YouTube interview record. But Sharpe said he wanted to be recognized beyond his role as Williams.

“Michael Jackson is more than ‘Thriller’, and that is what I told the team: ‘This was our” Thriller “album,” Sharpe said in an interview. “We are going to have continuous thesis conversations. Hopefully people because they come and tell their story and speak for themselves. “

It is common for retired athletes to enter the media, where they can share strategic ideas and funny stories gathered in practice fields and team flights. Ed McCaffrey, who played with Sharpe in the Broncos de Denver, said Sharpe would cause teammates to provoke their costume elections and that their jokes would maintain the light of the mood.

“The same guy who was in the locker room, the same type that was on the bus, the same type he was talking with his teammates is doing that now publicly,” said McCaffrey, who is now a Siriusxm radio presenter.

Sharpe found his entertainment career in the world of television, but has developed a fondness for podcasting due to the freedom he offers. He is not obliged for time limitations and can dictate the address of his program. The interviews in “Club Shay” often last more than an hour, and before the cameras reach their guests if there is any thematic area that should avoid.

“I’m not trying to make research reports,” Sharpe said. “If I put them comfortable enough and see that I am not there to judge them, they will open.”

He added: “If you want a hard heating, you must go to ’60 minutes ‘, go to’ Dateline.” “

In 14 seasons with the Broncos and the Baltimore Ravens, Sharpe intimidated the defenders of the disputed captures and surpassed them in the open field. He retired after the 2003 season and spent approximately one decade as a football analyst at CBS Sports before helping to start a Fox Sports debate program, “undisputed”, with Skip Bayless, who courted Sharpe to be his joke partner.

A Monday morning in 2017, Sharpe arrived at Los Angeles del Program studio with a celebration cigar in the mouth. The Broncos had won the day before, and the Dallas Cowboys, the favorite Bayless team, had lost.

The moment was held online, where people said calling Sharpe “UNC” (uncle abbreviation) and Photoshop his face in several memes. CJ Dear, a former Fox producer, helped Sharpe to rely on the joke in his social media accounts. The “UNC” character would also appear in the sporadical air, sometimes drinking liquor at 4 in the Pacific morning, other times using a goat mask.

“Every time a audience naturally gravitates something, you must capitalize on continuous, and I think it always did it in a playful way,” Dear said. “We built this person who developed on television and gave him a solid base.”

Fox had negotiated Podcast’s responsibilities in the Sharpe contract, but the Coronavirus pandemic did not apply them up to 2020. Not familiar with the environment or his power players beyond Joe Rogan, Sharpe turned to Dear, who said Sharpe should reach his personal contacts to book the guests.

Sharpe’s first interviewee at “Club Shay” was his brother, the former NFL receiver, Sterling Sharpe. Boxer Floyd Mayweather and rapper Ice Cube soon followed.

When Sharpe left Fox in June 2023 in the midst of a fractured relationship with Bayless and the Network, he retained the rights of “Club Shay Shay”, why he owned. Stephen A. Smith, the ESPN commentator, recruited it for a trial in “First Toma”, and Sharpe signed a long -term contract last year.

Althegh The Spotlight in ESPN shows is big, “Club Shay Shay” is the place where Sharpe can be himself. His report in the camera with high -profile artists has produced the wide rank of people such as the Mo’nique actor (who said Tyler Perry began rumors about her), singer John Legend and comedian Steve Harvey. Sharpe normally allows guests to put failures that Leghy responds without interrupting them. Many episodes exceed one million views.

“You get more eyes in the conversation of what you want to talk,” said Fat Joe, the rapper of New York, who appeared at “Club Shay Shay” in October. “It’s about what message is trying to convey, and hey, you do.”

Some recently guests “Club Shay”, including actor Keke Palmer and Streamer Kai Cenat, have joked about an incident in September when Sharpe accidentally transmitted an intimate moment on his Instagram. After stating for the first time he was pirated, Sharpe recognized the Gaffe in “Nightcap” and said he had called Robert A. Iger, Disney’s executive director, and ESPN Brass to apologize.

Sharpe’s innovative interview with Williams required a casual encounter with the new comedian executive assistant. Williams had been elusive for more than a year, but the wait was worth it.

Before disseminating personal facts about Black Hollywood, Williams said he had agreed to come to “Club Shay” because Sharpe “made a safe space for the truth to be told.” Duration The episode, Williams described his doubts towards the party with the combs, which now faces federal positions of sex trafficking. He questioned Hart’s comic pedigree. And joked about the circumstances of actor’s trial Jonathan Majors.

As you do with each episode, Podcast social networks cut the Williams Jui Gap responses in clips to publish on Instagram and other platforms. Dear said he wanted to produce 30 clips from each interview.

“The consistency and volume is what will bring people back to see the full episode,” said Dear. “We are really students of the numbers.”

Sharpe said more advertisers approached the program after the Williams episode. The YouTube official partnered with Sharpe and the assigned support personnel to grow his podcast business.

“He talked about his ability to offer a big audience,” said Angela Courtin, Vice President of YouTube that supervises her sports marketing division. She said that the commitment bombardment exceeded the scope of most linear television. “If you know how the platform works and it is already connecting with the public, it is obvious.”

Those who noticed included presidential candidates. In the final weeks of his failed campaign, Harris appeared in “Club Shay” as part of his reach to black voters.

Sharpe said Hey “would have loved” receiving Donald J. Trump, the republican presidential candidate too, but that possibility did not go beyond the exploratory conversations with his campaign. If Sharpe enters the political fray in 2028, he said, hey interviews the candidates of both main parties.

“Unless you both have, people will assume that this is the candidate you want to win and that is the party you are affiliated With, “said Sharpe.” When Interviews with an athlete, people do not automatically assume that I am supporting them. “