HBCU alumnus Shannon Sharpe's Club Shay Shay podcast has been the talk of 2024. His interview with Katt Williams was a cultural moment, amassing 67 million views at the time of this writing. His Club Shay Shay platform underwent massive growth following the Williams interview and other anticipated celebrity interviews such as with Usher, Cam Newton, and Mo'Nique. However, his latest interview with actress and media personality Amanda Seales has many social media unsatisfied.

Sharpe has never purported himself to be a high-level interviewer. He received immense criticism for his interview with Williams as many viewers felt as if he didn't offer enough pushback on allegations and other unverified claims in the interview. Sharpe pushed back on the criticism, pointing out that he handles his interviews differently.

“Now a lot of people have said, ‘Oh, Shannon left much on the table.’ Shannon is not a journalist. I never said I was a journalist, right? If you listen, in my intro I said normally what I say, ‘the person that’s coming by for conversation and a drink.’ I’m a conversationalist, not an interviewer. It’s a different space…[Williams] said ‘You’ve allowed other people a very safe place. That’s why we like coming.’ Safe place. I’ve also said on numerous occasions if you want ’60 minutes,’ if you want ‘Dateline,’ if you want, uh, ’48 Hours’, I’m not the place for you. Go to those places and get those types of interviews. Go to Lester Holt. Go to Norah O’Donnell. Go to — I’m not Mike Wallace, rest his soul. I’m not Ed Bradley, rest his soul, or Dan Rather or Walter Kronkite, rest their souls. Tom Brokaw, that’s not who I am.”

However, viewers were left unsatisfied with his interaction with Seales during the interview. On Twitter, viewers commented that he came across as combative and frequently downplayed her experience, a point she also raised during the interview.

“Shannon Sharpe be a little out of his depth for some of these interviews,” @theericklouis posted. The user then quoted a portion of the interview that they said “hurt to watch”.

Other users chimed in and they were just as critical of Sharpe.

“This interview should have been done with someone who actually has range and knowledge because Shannon Sharpe does not,” @geektify posted.

“Shannon Sharpe’s being biased, a bit condescending, and his research has been called out as incorrect/ flawed several times throughout this interview. feel how you wanna feel about Amanda Seales, but he ain’t equipped to interview her lol. props to her for staying tbh,” @ivourth posted.

“I’m going to make this huge statement. Shannon Sharpe just ain’t smart enough to be engaging in profound dialogues with people like Amanda Seales. He flourishes better with athletes, Z-listers and influencers. Even during Katt and Mo’Nique’s interview he was devaluing their pain,” @_____JV posted.

“Amanda Seales should’ve never done that interview with Shannon Sharpe. He’s not intellectually on her level.. or even the level of a 5th grader so save your time and don’t watch,” @xoraveen posted

“This new Shannon Sharpe interview is triggering. Coming from a family of “devil’s advocates” it can be very tiring trying to explain your experience to folks committed to misunderstanding you. She handled it well,” @dude_imalegend posted.

@Mansur_Daron, a supporter of Shape, gave his critique of the Amanda Seales interview.

“I LIKE Shannon Sharpe, but Unc gotta work on his interview skills. Say what yall want about Amanda Seales, but she’s BEEN doing interviews FOR DECADES, so she’s very aware of how the flow & energy & circumstance of an interview should go. Shannon be fumbling too much in convo.”

Social media users don't anticipate Sharpe to match the interviewing skills of Lester Holt or Norah O'Donnell. Club Shay Shay podcast viewers simply want him to conduct more thorough research for engaging conversations with guests and offer necessary pushback.