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A bombshell lawsuit brought by a former hairstylist for the Fox Sports network is alleging that former network host Skip Bayless offered to pay her a high sum for sex while accusing an FS1 executive of sexual misconduct. Further, the lawsuit named network co-hosts Emmanuel Acho and Joy Taylor, with claims that Taylor slept with several key figures at the network for advancement.
Front Office Sports reports that Noushin Faraji, who worked at Fox Sports from 2012 until August 2024, named Fox, Fox Sports, FS1, FS2, Fox Sports Executive Vice President Charlie Dixon, Skip Bayless, and FS1 host Joy Taylor as defendants in the lawsuit that was filed last Friday (Jan. 3).
Source: Travis P Ball / Getty (Dixon is to the right in the photo)
Among the more explosive claims, Faraji says that Bayless offered her $1.5 million to have sex with him after working with the host on the set of Undisputed and allegedly faced sexual harassment and unwanted advances from Bayless. In addition, the suit says that Bayless accused Faraji of sleeping with his former Undisputed co-star, Shannon Sharpe.
The suit also shares a depiction of an exchange between Faraji and Bayless where she attempted to rebuff Bayless by mentioning his wife and Bayless allegedly mentions Faraji’s Muslim faith and the assumption that her father had more than one spouse. Faraji told Bayless that her father was dead.
Faraji added in the suit that Dixon, who was the head of content for FS1, allegedly grabbed Faraji’s bottom at a West Hollywood birthday party. Faraji claims she went to Taylor to report what happened and Faraji said that Taylor allegedly told her to “get over it.”
According to Faraji’s account, she believed that Taylor and Dixon began their affair in 2016 despite both being married. Taylor allegedly invited Faraji out for a drink in Santa Monica, Calif. and when arriving to the bar, she found Taylor sitting with Dixon. Faraji claimed that the body language between the pair suggested a sexual connection. The suit also states that Taylor’s slot on Undisputed was a “reward” for sleeping with Dixon.
Source: ETIENNE LAURENT / Getty
The lawsuit also points to allegations that Taylor used sex to get herself in the door for some of the coveted time slots in the FS1 and Fox Sports space, including sleeping with Acho. Faraji claims she warned Taylor about sleeping with Dixon and Acho at the same time, a warning that was allegedly dismissed by Taylor who believed she had enough leverage to get whatever she wanted out of Dixon.
Faraji is seeking unspecified monetary damages and wants to take the matter to trial. Fox Sports has released a statement regarding the matter while Bayless, Taylor, and Acho have yet to respond to the claims.
On X, the news of the lawsuit have spread wide with reactions going all over the place and zeroing in on the more salacious aspects while largely ignoring the harm Faraji claims to have endured. We’ve got those reactions listed below.
For those who want to go through the 47-page lawsuit, click here.
[h/t Daily Mail]
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Photo: Getty
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Just one year after Shannon Sharpe suddenly bolted from FS1’s popular sports talk show Undisputed, his former co-host, Skip Bayless, is said to be calling it quits as well as the show has struggled to rediscover its appeal since Sharpe’s exit.
The New York Post is reporting that the often hated and sometimes insufferable Skip Bayless has decided to pack it up after eight years of going back and forth with Shannon Sharpe and his replacements, Richard Sherman and Michael Irvin.
Unfortunately for Bayless, audiences began to tune out after Sharpe took his talents to ESPN. In an attempt to shake things up, Bayless recruited the talents of Paul Pierce, Keyshawn Johnson, Rachel Nichols, and even Lil Wayne to stir things up, but to no avail.
With ESPN’s First Take continuing to overshadow whatever was going on on Undisputed — thanks to the big personalities of Sharpe, Stephen A. Smith, and Molly Qerim — it was only a matter of time before Skip Bayless had to accept that inevitable “L.”
Per the New York Post:
“Undisputed” ratings numbers were also hurt on the margins as Craig Carton’s lead-in show has not yet reached the metrics that “First Things First” had in the early mornings before it got moved to mid-afternoon, following “The Herd” with Colin Cowherd.
While Cowherd and Bayless were warned by colleagues that they would get “lost” leaving ESPN for FS1 in 2015 and 2016, both were successful in making the shift, as digital platforms like YouTube, X and Instagram made their audiences portable beyond linear TV.
It is expected that “Undisputed” will continue without Bayless.
For years it was rumored that Skip Bayless would eventually find his way back to ESPN where he and Stephen A. Smith had some undeniable chemistry brewing on First Take for years before Skip went to FS1 and kicked off Undisputed with Shannon Sharpe, helping launch his star into another stratosphere.
Would Skip entertain a return to First Take? Would Stephen A. and Shannon Sharpe even want to bring him into their circle given the way things have soured between Skip and his former co-hosts over the past few years? We doubt it, but hey, you never know.
Skip’s final show is said to be going down later this summer.
Would you want to see Skip Bayless back on ESPN, or are y’all good on him at this point? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Photo: gotpap/Bauer-Griffin / Getty
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Emmanuel Acho, currently a sports analyst and a former professional athlete, is certainly qualified to speak on the happenings of the sports world. However, the former NFL linebacker delivered an awful take that he tried to dress up nicely regarding Angel Reese, and many of Acho’s peers are checking him while other fans are going at his well-manicured fade.
In a now-viral clip shared to social media, Emmanuel Acho, 33, appeared on his Fox Sports 1 program SPEAK to discuss Angel Reese and LSU falling to Caitlin Clark and Iowa during the NCAA Women’s Elite 8 games this past Monday (April 1). While Reese was doing her best while being reportedly hobbled by an injury, LSU fell to Iowa behind the scoring explosion from Clark.
In the postgame press conference, Reese, 21, tearfully explained that after her team defeated Iowa last year for the championship, the vitriol she’s experienced since that epic contest has been too much to bear.
“I’ve been through so much,” Reese said. “I’ve seen so much. I’ve been attacked so many times. Death threats. I’ve been sexualized. I’ve been threatened. I’ve been so many things.”
Despite this, Acho found it necessary to deliver what he framed as a “gender neutral and racially indifferent” —which doesn’t make any sense because you’re discussing a women’s basketball tournament contest featuring a Black woman who is a superstar opposite a white woman who is considered the next great hope for the game. That alone negates the low shot Acho took at Reese’s experience by comparing her tears to that of the animated character, Courage the Cowardly Dog.
People with far more access to Emmanuel Acho have checked him on his dressing down of Angel Reese and the accomplishments of her team. Others are dragging Acho’s name through the mud while others are muting his entire name from their feeds. What’s worse is that the MAGA nuts and closet racists loved the take because of course they did.
Check out the reactions below.
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Photo: Getty
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