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Noushin Faraji, former Fox Sports 1 has filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court and has dropped serious allegations against FS1 host Joy Taylor, Former host Skip Bayless, Fox Sports VP Charlie Dixon and the Fox corporation. In the lawsuit, Faraji centers her claims on sexual harassment, sexual battery, retaliation and a hostile work environment. She also accuses Joy Taylor of using sexual relationships with Dixon and ex-NFL star and co-host Emmanuel Acho to advance her career.
“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 states. “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 inexplicitly promoted.”
In the lawsuit, Faraji alleges that Taylor began having an inappropriate relationship with Dixon in 2016 while they were both married. Allegedly, after Taylor’s then husband, Richard Gionnotti, discovered evidence of her infidelity, they eventually divorced. According to the 42 page lawsuit, Taylor continued to use her sexuality to secure professional opportunities. She also allegedly had a romantic relationship with Acho in 2020 to gain a spot of his show “Speak.”
Faraji claims that Taylor went as far as to say that balancing her then relationship with Acho and Dixon is not a big concern since “Dixon would no longer be useful to her” and threatened to accuse him of misconduct if necessary. Faraji also alleged that Dixon touched her inappropriately during Taylor’s birthday party in West Hollywood in 2017. “Ms. Faraji felt very uncomfortable by his unsolicited touching and responded: “No, thank you.” Mr. Dixon then moved his hand lower and started rubbing her body and grabbing her buttocks. Ms. Faraji was mortified but quickly thought to fake an incoming call to escape from the situation,” according to the suit.
The complaint also references an anonymous friend Faraji confided in after the incident with Dixon. The friend described Dixon as “disgusting” and said his behavior was unsurprising given “Fox’s culture.” The friend the advised Faraji to remain silent so as to keep her job support her son since she is a single mother. The lawsuit also accuses Bayless of offering Faraji $1.5 million for sex and when she reported the incident to Taylor, Faraji was told to “get over it.” Following the lawsuit, Fox sports issued a statement acknowledging the allegations and pledging to let the legal process take charge.
