Noushin Faraji, a former hairstylist at Fox Sports, has brought some disturbing allegations against some of her former colleagues, including longtime television personality Skip Bayless. According to a 42-page lawsuit, Charlie Dixon — the head of content at FS1 — and FS1 host Joy Taylor are among the defendants in the case, as is Bayless.
According to Faraji, a single mother, Dixon touched her buttocks at a West Hollywood birthday party, and when she told Taylor about the experience, Taylor allegedly wasn’t all that sympathetic. She allegedly told Faraji to “get over it.”
Furthermore, Faraji accuses Bayless of touching her inappropriately and claims that he offered her $1.5 million for sex. This inappropriate behavior was allegedly going on while Faraji was working alongside Bayless on the television show “Undisputed.”
“After starting work on the Undisputed morning show starring Bayless, the suit alleges that he began giving Faraji ‘lingering hugs and kisses on the cheek while putting his body against hers and pressing against her breasts,'” wrote A.J. Perez and Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports. “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.
“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.”
Per Faraji, she worked at Fox Sports from the year 2012 through August of last year. The lawsuit “seeks class-action status on behalf of Faraji and other nonexempt Fox employees working in California over the past four years,” per Front Office Sports. She is aiming for a jury trial on the matter. The amount of money she wants in monetary damages isn’t clear at this time.
Faraji claims that during her time working at Fox, she made more than one complaint to the Human Resources and Employee Relations departments.
Taylor allegedly began to talk badly about Faraji once the two saw their friendship come to an end. According to the lawsuit, Taylor began insulting Faraji “on a personal and professional level.” Taylor also allegedly mocked the pronunciation of Faraji, who is of Persian descent.
The lawsuit claims that for over a decade, Faraji 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 also alleges that Fox retaliated against those who came forward.
Front Office Sports supposedly reached out to Faraji’s lawyers as well as a spokesperson at Fox Sports but did not get any immediate responses.
Bayless is no longer a member of Fox Sports, as he stopped hosting “Undisputed” over the summer after he spent eight years in the role.
It’ll be interesting to see if there will be any more news on Faraji’s lawsuit in the coming days and weeks, and Bayless could see his reputation take a big hit because of the allegations he’s facing.
