A former Fox Sports hairstylist claims that former host Skip Bayless touched her inappropriately and propositioned her for intimate services.
In a lawsuit filed on Friday in Los Angeles, Noushin Faraji says she was sexually harassed and assaulted by Bayless and others at Fox Sports for a decade.
In the 42-page complaint, obtained by Front Office Sports, Faraji named Fox Sports Executive Vice President Charlie Dixon, FS1 host Joy Taylor, and other defendants.
Faraji alleges that Dixon grabbed her buttocks at a party, and when she complained to Taylor, she was told to “get over it.”
In the video below, Faraji is seen at left on the set with retired NFL players LeSean McCoy and Emmanuel Acho.
The lawsuit seeks class-action status on behalf of Faraji and other nonexempt Fox employees working in California over the past four years.
After she began working on the set of “Undisputed” morning show starring Bayless, Faraji claims the 73-year-old host began giving her “lingering hugs and kisses on the cheek while pressing his body 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 diagnosed with ovarian cancer, as an excuse to stop his advances.
Instead, Faraji said Bayless became more aggressive over the years. 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.”
Bro… https://t.co/PeTp3Kkcd1 pic.twitter.com/up1VW0mDHL
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod ?? (@big_business_) January 5, 2025
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.”
The suit claims her former friend and colleague, 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 Persian.
Faraji described a free-for-all atmosphere at Fox Sports where married colleagues slept with single employees. During her employment at Fox Sports, Faraji alleges she made multiple complaints to the Human Resources and Employee Relations departments.
Taylor allegedly had intimate relationships with Dixon while on the job. Both are married to other people.
In her lawsuit, Faraji said she met Dixon at a bar years before Taylor helped her get a job at Fox Sports. Dixon would always buy them drinks and food. From their body language, Faraji could tell they were intimate partners.
In June 2016, while at work, Faraji bumped into Dixon in an elevator. Surprised, she told Taylor about their encounter. “The guy who always buys our drinks was in the elevator!”
She says Taylor hushed her and explained that Dixon was the EVP at Fox Sports.
Faraji became alarmed and warned Taylor that a workplace relationship was not safe as Dixon and Taylor were both married. But Taylor told her not to worry about it.
In her lawsuit, Faraji said Taylor may have slept with Sharpe, who has proven himself to be promiscuous.
Just remembered Joy Taylor and Shannon Sharpe went to a Dodgers game in 2016 and the next day Skip Bayless called it a “date” live on air
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— Foernix (@_foernix) January 5, 2025
Faraji also suggested that Taylor had a relationship with Acho, pictured below left with Dixon (right).
Joy Taylor letting anybody hit lmfaooo pic.twitter.com/0YekehFDg9
— ?????? ?????? (@EmbiidJoell) January 5, 2025
“Her lengthy tenure at Fox Sports and not-so-thinly-veiled references to multiple anonymous witnesses suggests that she may have the receipts to back up her version of the events,” said Daniel Wallach, a sports law attorney and co-host of the podcast Conduct Detrimental. “Just as importantly, she contemporaneously raised these issues with co-workers, which, in the jurors’ eyes, could boost the credibility of these claims.”
“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,” according to the lawsuit. “When Ms. Faraji and others came forward to report the wrongdoing, instead of addressing their concerns, Fox retaliated against them while the perpetrators and those who protected them were inexplicably promoted. This case thus represents yet another in a long line of cases chronicling the toxic culture at Fox, marked by bad faith promises and repeated failures to address a poisonous and entrenched patriarchy.”
Faraji seeks unspecified monetary damages and a jury trial, Front Office Sports reported.