A former hairstylist is suing Fox Sports and its former host Skip Bayless for alleged sexual harassment.
The lawsuit claims that Bayless, 73, made repeated unwanted advances and offered to pay $1.5 million to the woman to have sex with him.
The hairstylist, Noushin Faraji, alleges she faced retaliation for raising her concerns, and ultimately lost her job for pretextual reasons. She accused Bayless and another Fox employee, executive Charlie Dixon, of sexual battery and harassment.
“We take these allegations seriously and have no further comment at this time given this pending litigation," Fox said.
The lawsuit also names Dixon and moderator Joy Taylor, whom Faraji claims had an affair with Dixon that led to Taylor getting a job on Undisputed.
According to Faraji, Dixon grabbed her buttocks at an office birthday party, and when she complained, Taylor told her to forget it ever happened. The lawsuit alleges that Fox enabled abusive men to target Faraji and other female employees.
Bayless was a host for Fox Sports' Undisputed between 2016 and 2024.
Shortly after she started doing haircuts for Bayless, Faraji said he found excuses to touch her inappropriately and ignored her repeated efforts to rebuff his advances.
"He would give her lingering hugs after each haircut, putting his body against her own, pressing against her breasts. He then began to kiss her on her cheeks," the lawsuit says.
This behavior persisted for several years, Faraji alleged, including an incident when she told Bayless that she was suffering from ovarian cancer to ward off his advances. He responded by kissing her hands and offering $1.5 million to have sex with her, she said.
"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 says.
Faraji also claims she was discriminated against because of her Iranian descent.
"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 alleges.
“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.”
