Source: The Washington Post / Getty
If the Diddy allegations have taught us anything, it’s that sexual assault is rampant in the entertainment world, and, according to a bombshell 42-page lawsuit, it’s also happening in the sports media world.
As Front Office Sports reports, Noushin Faraji was a hairstylist at Fox Sports from 2012 through the summer of 2024 and alleges inappropriate treatment from one of FS1’s leading faces, Skip Bayless.
Faraji alleges that it started when she started working on his Undisputed morning show, and he’d give her “lingering hugs and kisses on the cheek while putting his body against hers and pressing against her breasts.”
Faraji says she immediately turned down his advances and refused to date anyone at work. Still, Bayless persisted and at once even offered her $1.5 million to have sex with him and accused her of sleeping with then-cohost Shannon Sharpe.
After the six-figure proposition, he allegedly continued to harass her, and she recounts one specific moment where he even brought up her religion in an effort to persuade her.
“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.”
According to FSO, she complained to Human Resources several times during her tenure, but nothing became of the filings.
“Ms. Faraji brings forth this action because for over a decade at Fox, she was forced to endure a misogynistic, racist, and ableist workplace where executives and talent were allowed to physically and verbally abuse workers with impunity,” the suit alleges.
It wasn’t just men who allegedly created an unsafe work environment for Faraji; commentator Joy Taylor also played a part. Faraji claims she told Taylor that EVP Charlie Dixon grabbed her butt at a birthday party, but Taylor’s response was for her to “get over it.”
Faraji said that she and Taylor started as friends, but once their friendship ended, Taylor began mocking her accent and claimed she suddenly needed a Black hairdresser despite working with her for seven years without complaints. The hairdresser also says that Taylor had a romantic relationship with former NFL player turned commentator Emmanuel Acho and Dixon to help advance her career.
Social media has focused on the salaciousness of the allegations Skip Bayless and Joy Taylor are facing rather than the harm Faraji claims. In the lawsuit, Faraji wants unspecified monetary damages and a jury trial.
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