Out of all the “mainstream” media networks, few, if any, are in a stronger position to survive the current death spiral of corporate-controlled media than the Fox empire.
But for some reason, the company just keeps finding itself embroiled in major lawsuits that threaten to rock the foundation of the company Rupert Murdoch built into a powerhouse.
And now Fox executives are in panic mode after this salacious sex scandal made its way to court.
Fox in chaos
Weeks ago now, Fox Sports was turned upside down after a former hairstylist for the network, Noushin Faraji, filed a 42-page workplace misconduct lawsuit in which she named FS1 executive Charlie Dixon and former top Fox Sports personality Skip Bayless as co-defendants.
In the lawsuit, Faraji alleges that 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” while employed by the network from 2012 through 2024.
Furthermore, the former Fox hairstylist accused Bayless of giving Faraji “lingering hugs and kisses on the cheek while putting his body against hers and pressing against her breasts,” while also propositioning her for sex with a $1.5 million offer, and becoming “more aggressive” as time went on.
When she reminded Bayless that he was married, Faraji alleged that he responded, “Aren’t you Muslim? Doesn’t your dad have three to four wives?”
In his legal response, Bayless claimed that Faraji “consented” to the alleged acts and suggested that “pre-existing psychological or medical conditions(s)” could have caused the former hairstylist the “emotional distress or pain” she alleges in her suit.
Faraji also accused Dixon, Fox Sports’ Executive Vice President of Content for FS1 since 2015, of “grabbing her inappropriately,” according to The Sporting News.
But the allegation that had social media buzzing was Faraji’s assertion that Dixon and FS1 host Joy Taylor entered into a sexual relationship through which Taylor, who was married at the time of the alleged relationship, was ultimately given the opportunity to co-host Bayless’ former show, Undisputed, despite his objections.
“Mr. Bayless later disclosed to Ms. Faraji that he did not want Ms. Taylor on the show, but Mr. Dixon was adamant that Ms. Taylor should star,” the lawsuit claims. “At first, Mr. Dixon arranged a dinner between Mr. Bayless and Ms. Taylor where she arrived in provocative clothing and acted in a provocative manner. When that did not change Mr. Bayless’s opinion of Ms. Taylor, Mr. Dixon asked him to approve of her as a favor to him.”
Faraji also suggested that at the same time Taylor was engaged in a sexual relationship and quid-pro-quo with Dixon, she was also having a similar relationship with fellow FS1 Emmanuel Acho, and had preplanned to use the fact that she was sleeping with Acho to ultimately secure a spot on his Speak for Yourself show, which she inevitably did.
“Sidelined”
The lawsuit states that Taylor invited Faraji to lunch and showed up with Acho, whom the former hairstylist did not know, but “could tell that the two were romantically involved.”
“A few months after meeting Mr. Acho at lunch, Ms. Faraji noticed him in the hallway while at work,” the lawsuit adds. “Ms. Faraji later asked Ms. Taylor if Mr. Acho also worked at Fox. Ms. Taylor confirmed and explained that she wanted Mr. Acho to eventually recommend her on the show Speak for Yourself. Ms. Faraji became alarmed and warned Ms. Taylor that she should probably not sleep with Mr. Dixon and Mr. Acho at the same time, as Mr. Dixon is a very powerful man that may become very angry.”
Rather than heed Faraji’s warning, the lawsuit alleges that “Taylor told her not to worry about it,” and “explained that she was also now powerful, and once Mr. Dixon was no longer useful to her, she would follow through on her plan to tell the company that he forced himself on her.”
In the impending aftermath of Faraji filing her lawsuit, another former Fox Sports on-air talent, Julie Stewart-Binks, filed a lawsuit of her own against Dixon in which she accused him of sexual assault, and suggested that Fox protected him after she came forward to the network’s human resources department in 2016, prompting the network to place the executive on administrative leave.
Up until recently, Dixon was the only party named in the lawsuit to face any sort of consequences for his alleged actions as Bayless exited Fox Sports in late 2024, months before the lawsuit came to light, and Taylor continued her regular hosting duties on Speak for Yourself as if nothing had happened.
But that all changed when social media began to notice that Taylor was suspiciously absent from her show’s beginning.
The FS1 host was reportedly on a weeks-long vacation from the show, but in the weeks since she supposedly returned to Los Angeles, where her show is based, she’s been missing from FS1’s airwaves.
According to a report from Front Office Sports, “Taylor missed the shows because she was ‘sidelined’ by the network.”
“The apparent infraction that led Taylor to be off the program for at least four days was not immediately known,” the report added. “A spokesperson for Fox Sports declined to comment, and a spokesperson for Taylor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.”
To date, Taylor’s only response to the allegations has been to request that the lawsuit be dismissed, claiming that she denies “each and every allegation against her.”
