Skip Bayless and Fox Sports have reunited, but not in the way either party had hoped.
the previous Undisputed Host and outlet Erik Shanks and Mark Silverman have been exposed to a jury seeking a complaint alleging that Bayless offered a Fox Sports hairstylist $1.5 million if she would have sex with him.
Calling Fox Sports a den of injustice, the 14-count lawsuit filed Jan. 3 in Los Angeles Superior Court alleges that Bayless repeatedly tried to “pressure” plaintiff Nousheen Faraji to “have sex with him.”
“Miss. Farage is bringing this action because for more than a decade at Fox she had to endure a misogynistic, racist, and misogynistic workplace, where executives and talent were allowed to physically and verbally abuse workers with impunity. The environment and fraudulent business practices allege,” the lawsuit says.
Read sexual battery and 13 other claims against Skip Bayless, Fox Sports, Joy Taylor and others here
In tone and phrases familiar to those who have read the previous sexual harassment and other lawsuits that Fox entities and their executives have been subjected to over the past decade, the potential class action adds: “When Ms. Farage and others came forward to whistleblower.” Instead of addressing their concerns, Fox retaliated against them while the perpetrators and those they protected were inconspicuously promoted. This case thus represents another in a long line of cases chronicling the toxic culture at Fox, marked by promises of bad faith and repeated failures to address toxic and entrenched patriarchy.
Detailing a July 2021 incident in which Bayless allegedly offered Faraji $1.5 million to sleep with him, the suit then damningly says: “Approximately a week later, Mr. Bayless made another advance on Ms. Faraji. “Skip, stop, you have a wife,” Mrs. Faraji replied. Mr Bayliss replied: “Aren’t you a Muslim?” Doesn't your father have three to four wives? Mrs. Farji replied that her father was dead, and when Mr. Bayliss looked surprised, she made an excuse to leave. In 2024, Faraji alleges that Bayless told her while she was cutting his hair that he “fantasized about having sex with her and asked her how much money it would cost to have sex with him.” Bayliss supposedly went on to say: “The more you say no, the more I want you.”
With all that said, Bayless also allegedly accused Faraji of having a sexual relationship with his then-co-host and “arch-rival” Shannon Sharp. The claim that Faraji makes is completely false. Sharp on Sunday on his show with Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson Nightcap The podcast briefly addressed what was mentioned in the proceedings by saying: “This has nothing to do with me.”
After several tense on-air exchanges between Bayless and Sharpe, the latter moved to ESPN in June 2023. In August 2024, former ESPN host Bayless stepped back from FS1 after eight years. Both sides painted that departure in rosy terms, but ratings declined and it was then cancelled Undisputed It was said to be a major issue – as Faraji noted in her suit. Shortly after Bayless' exit, Faraji herself was fired from FS1 “by removing her from the schedule entirely, using fabricated work exigencies as an excuse.”
“We take these allegations very seriously and have no further comment at this time given this pending lawsuit,” a Fox spokesperson told Deadline today. Representatives for Bayless did not respond to a request for comment from Deadline on the allegations. If they do, this post will be updated.
The truth is, with current Fox Sports host Joey Taylor and FS1 Content Vice President Charlie Dixon named as defendants in the lawsuit, as well as Bayless and a number of Fox Sports corporate entities, Fox better take these allegations seriously.
In the 42-page lawsuit filed by attorneys Rana Ayazi and Devin Abney, Faraji says Taylor did nothing to help her and in fact told her to “get over it” after Vice President Dixon groped the hairdresser at the star's on-air birthday party in 2017. It was there. In fact, along with internal office intrigue (to put it politely), the escalation of the alleged affair between Taylor and Dixon, and the influences the VP was exerting on women at FS1, Speak co-host Taylor became “romantically involved” with FS1 colleague Emmanuel Acho in 2020, according to Faraji — a connection she finds FS1 bosses asking her about repeatedly.
All of that, combined with Faraji calling out Fox for “employment law violations” and “unfair, illegal and fraudulent trade practices” when it came to payment, finds the plaintiff seeking class action certification, a variety of unspecified damages and Taylor & Dixon. Fired.
As the filing says:
At this point, Ms. Faraji is seeking justice. She knows that Mr. Dixon used his position to coerce women into having sex with him and used it as justification for groping Ms. Faraji. She learns that Mr. Dixon did not fire her immediately (after a dispute between Mrs. Taylor and Mrs. Farage) only to please Mr. Bayliss by providing him with a toy. Although Ms. Farji was an excellent hairdresser and in constant demand for talent, she was limited in how well she could appease Mr. Bayliss, and once Mr. Bayliss was gone, so was her job.
After the lawsuit became public, a number of Bayliss associates and others became involved.
Among those who filed Faraji's legal suit was former Bayless.Take first Partner Stephen A. Smith.
“The Skip Bayless I know has a hard time donating $15, he's one of the cheapest people I know,” the distinguished NBA sports commentator and cultural icon noted on his podcast Monday. “That's just me. But that doesn't mean I have any inside knowledge about any of this. No, no, I won't get involved.”
Smith went on to say, “I know Skip, and I am so sad that he found himself in this situation, accused of these allegations. But I can't be irresponsible and attach truth or innocence, you know, or guilt to anything I know nothing about. All I can say, and I don't think it's a crime, is just like I said with Jay-Z. The person I've known for 25 years. I've never seen anything like that from that person, or anything close to that from that person. “That's the same thing I want to tell you about Skip Bayless.”
Jay-Z was accused of raping a 13-year-old girl at the MTV VMAs in 2000 along with his top accused and currently imprisoned Sean “Diddy” Combs and a yet-to-be-named female “Celebrity B.” The rap star, whose real name is Shawn Carter, has strongly denied the allegations and has asked his lawyer, Alex Spiro, to try a range of tactics to get the charges against him dropped.
Bad Boy Records founder Combs was arrested on September 16 on sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution charges. The trial for Combs, who was already behind bars at the tough Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn and repeatedly denied bail, is scheduled to begin on May 5 next year.
