The Fox Sports lawsuit involving Skip Bayless, Joy Taylor and others: What we know so far
There’s a new lawsuit filed last week with some serious allegations involving Fox Sports and defendants including executive vice president of content Charlie Dixon, former Undisputed personality Skip Bayless and FS1 host Joy Taylor.
If you’re wondering what it’s all about and the allegations, we have info from Front Office Sports, which first reported about the lawsuit. And Fox Sports has addressed it, although of course we haven’t heard from others named in it.
So what’s going on? What is it addressing? Who is involved? We have those answers and more with everything we know so far about the lawsuit:
What are the details of the Fox Sports lawsuit?
It was filed by Noushin Faraji. She worked at Fox Sports from 2012 through last August. Here’s what she’s alleging, per Front Office Sports:
In the suit filed Friday in Los Angeles, Faraji alleges that Dixon, the head of content for FS1, grabbed her buttocks at a birthday party in West Hollywood. When she relayed the encounter to Taylor, the Fox host allegedly told her to “get over it,” according to the suit. …
After starting work on the Undisputed morning show starring Bayless, the suit alleges he began giving Faraji “lingering hugs and kisses on the cheek while putting his body against hers and pressing against her breasts.” The single mother alleges she repeatedly told Bayless she was not interested in him and did not “date at work.” She also claims she told Bayless she was suffering from ovarian cancer, after developing issues with her left ovary, in an effort to halt his advances.
Instead, Bayless became more aggressive over the years, according to the suit. He allegedly offered Faraji $1.5 million to have sex with him—and claimed he could “change” her life. The suit also claims Bayless accused Faraji of sleeping with Shannon Sharpe, his co-star on Undisputed.
Was there more about Skip Bayless in it?
Again, more allegations:
As the suit alleges: “Approximately one week later, Mr. Bayless made another advance at Ms. Faraji. Ms. Faraji responded: ‘Skip, stop, you have a wife.’ Mr. Bayless responded: ‘Aren’t you Muslim? Doesn’t your dad have three to four wives?’ Ms. Faraji responded that her father was dead, and when Mr. Bayless looked taken aback, she made an excuse to leave.”
Why is Joy Taylor named in it?
More from FOS:
Meanwhile, the suit alleges Taylor began “insulting Ms. Faraji on a personal and professional level” after their friendship ended. The suit also alleges that Taylor mocked the “English” pronunciation of Faraji, who is of Persian descent.
What has Fox Sports said?
The network gave a statement to USA TODAY Sports:
“We take these allegations seriously and have no further comment at this time given this pending litigation.”
Have we heard from anyone else?
Shannon Sharpe, who left Undisputed in 2023, said this on Nightcap, via Awful Announcing:
“Ain’t got nothing to do with me,” Sharpe said of the lawsuit on Sunday night’s episode of Nightcap. “Guys, the news of the day, absolutely, it doesn’t. What y’all want me to say?”
“That ain’t got nothing to do with me. So there’s nothing to address,” Sharpe continued. “If you notice, everybody that’s posted it, they [mention] me. In the 42 pages, it don’t mention nothing about Shannon Sharpe doing anything. But y’all wanna get clicks, so y’all mention me.”