Lawsuit against Skip Bayless, Fox Sports executive accused of harassment makaar

Lawsuit alleges Skip Bayless offered former Fox Sports hair stylist $1.5 million for sex

Lawsuit alleges Skip Bayless offered former Fox Sports hair stylist .5 million for sex

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Longtime television sports firebrand Skip Bayless is accused of repeatedly making unwanted sexual advances and offering $1.5 million to have sex with a former Fox Sports hair stylist, according to a lawsuit filed by the woman.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in Los Angeles, accuses Bayless, the then-Fox Sports host, of trying to pressure plaintiff Nausheen Farazi into having sex, allegedly after she told him she feared cancer in 2021. This included offering her $1.5 million for sex.

The lawsuit was first reported by Front Office Sports.

NBC News generally does not identify people who allege sexual misconduct unless they have publicly identified themselves, as Farazi has done in the lawsuit.

In a statement, Fox Sports said: “We take these allegations seriously and will have no further comment at this time in view of the pending litigation.”

An attorney for Bayless did not immediately respond to an email and text message seeking comment Monday.

Popular host Joey Taylor is also named in the lawsuit, which accuses him of telling the plaintiff to “get over it” when Fox Sports 1 executive Charlie Dixon allegedly groped her at a party. Taylor and Dixon did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.

The lawsuit alleges that Farazi, who is said to have worked at Fox on a part-time and then full-time basis from 2012 until his dismissal in 2024, worked with Bayless in late 2016. While he was co-hosting the show “Undisputed”. , “Following her request he did her hair. Taylor was the moderator on the show.

Shortly after requesting a weekly haircut, Bayless began engaging in unwanted touching in the form of prolonged hugs, in which he would place his body against Farazi’s body and fondle her breasts, according to the suit. . The lawsuit alleges this escalated into kisses on the cheeks and inappropriate comments, including calling Faraji “promiscuous.”

“Mr. Bayless then began to be more aggressive and direct in his advances. Ms. Faraji consistently refused, saying that she did not date at work because she is a single mother and needed her job, ” the lawsuit states.

After discussing the issue with a colleague, the two decided it would be harmful to report the situation, as Fox “protected powerful people”, according to the lawsuit.

Instead, the lawsuit says, Faraji decided to be kind to Bayless or risk losing her job: “As a single mother who depended on her job to support her son, Ms. Faraji “Feeled he had no choice.”

The lawsuit says Bayless continued to make sexual advances over the years, which Faraji would reject by making excuses, changing the subject or making jokes about her son.

In 2021, after being told that a problem with one of her ovaries might be cancer, Farage reportedly explained the condition to Bayless in the hopes that he would “take pity on her and stop his progress.” Instead, Bayless told her he wanted to be with her, began kissing her hands and offered her $1.5 million to have sex with him, legal filings allege.

The lawsuit says Faraji made an excuse to leave.

Around June 2024, before his departure from the network, Bayless allegedly told Faraji that he fantasized about having sex with her and asked how much money it would take for her to accept, to which Faraji replied that he Have already rejected his offer of $1.5 million. And his answer will not change.

Bayless responded, according to the suit, “The more you say ‘no’ the more I want you.”

The lawsuit says Faraji and Taylor’s friendship began in March 2016 when Taylor moved to Los Angeles from Miami.

At Taylor’s birthday party in January 2017, Dixon — who was reportedly “drinking heavily” — placed his hand on Farazi’s lower back before “rubbing her body and grabbing her buttocks,” according to the suit. stated in. According to the lawsuit, Faraji made the fake call to get out of the situation and told Taylor what allegedly happened.

“Surprisingly, Ms. Taylor responded ‘get over it’ and explained that her job was only because of Mr. Dixon and that Ms. Farazi only had the job because Ms. Taylor requested her to,” in the filing. has claimed. “He warned that Mr. Dixon might take both.”

The lawsuit alleges that another co-worker also advised Faraji to remain silent.

“At this point, Ms. Faraji wants justice,” the lawsuit says. “She is aware that Mr Dixon used his position of power to force women to have sex with him and used this as justification for groping Ms Farazi.”

The lawsuit also alleges a hostile work environment based on sex, race or national origin and disability, as well as negligence, retaliation and wrongful termination.

The lawsuit alleges that Faraji and Taylor’s friendship ended in late 2021, after which Taylor began insulting the plaintiff, who is of Iranian descent, on a “personal and professional level.”

In 2023, Taylor “began to openly mock Ms. Farazi’s English” and complain about her humming — a coping mechanism for Farazi’s post-traumatic stress disorder — the suit says.

According to the lawsuit, Farage was fired shortly after Bayless left the network and was given a false pretext for his termination.

The lawsuit states, “Despite Ms. Faraji being an excellent hairdresser and being constantly solicited by the talent, she was limited to how much she could please Mr. Bayless, and once Mr. Bayless left If he left, his work would also be over.”

Bayless left Fox Sports last year and currently hosts “The Skip Bayless Show” podcast. Taylor currently hosts the FS1 show “Speak.”

The plaintiff is seeking equitable damages, compensatory damages, emotional damages, punitive damages and attorney’s fees through a jury trial.

The lawsuit also includes class-action allegations, and claims Fox employees were not paid for all hours they worked, compensated for overtime or reimbursed for business expenses.

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