Shannon Sharpe distanced himself from the allegations brought against his former Fox coworkers in a bombshell lawsuit alleging chronic sexual abuse and harassment in the Fox Sports workplace.
The suit, filed Friday in Los Angeles by Noushin Faraji, a hairstylist who worked at the company from 2012 to August 2024, alleges former network star Skip Bayless sexually harassed her multiple times and offered her $1.5 million to have sex with him, among other allegations. The lawsuit also accuses Speak cohost Joy Taylor of insulting Faraji “on a personal and professional level” after their friendship ended. The case seeks unspecified monetary damages and a jury trial. It was first reported by Front Office Sports.
Sharpe addressed the lawsuit on Sunday’s episode of Nightcap, a YouTube show and podcast he cohosts with former NFL wideout Chad Johnson.
“That has nothing to do with me,” Sharpe said. “There’s nothing to address. In those 42 pages, it doesn’t mention that Shannon Sharpe did anything. But you all want to get clicks, so you mention me.”
Sharpe is mentioned in the lawsuit, but isn’t listed as a defendant. In the court filing, Faraji alleges Bayless accused her of sleeping with Sharpe in 2022 after repeatedly denying his advances. Faraji said she was never interested in nor had a relationship with Sharpe throughout her time at Fox. The lawsuit also says Bayless continued his pursuit of Faraji after eventually learning there was nothing between Faraji and Sharpe.
Bayless and Sharpe worked together for seven years on Undisputed, the network’s version of ESPN’s First Take, where Bayless became a national star alongside Stephen A. Smith. Sharpe left the show for ESPN in 2023 and later told Smith on his own show that Bayless was dismissive of the former tight end’s Pro Football Hall of Fame career.
“You can say I’m loud, you can say I’m obnoxious, you can say I’m arrogant,” Sharpe said on Smith’s show in 2023. “But to try to poo-poo my career, a seventh-rounder that started out on special teams and played so well that I got into the Hall of Fame. To try to minimize that was disheartening for me. I considered Skip a friend. For you to take that kind of personal shot at me, it really hurt me.”
Acho Appears On Air
Bayless and current Fox personalities have been quiet about the lawsuit.
Bayless—currently not employed—tweeted throughout the Sunday NFL slate. But Emmanuel Acho, who was named in the suit but not accused of wrongdoing, was mostly quiet. He made his usual FS1 appearance Monday morning, hosting his show “The Facility.”
Acho is mentioned seven times in the 42-page lawsuit, as Faraji alleges he had a consensual relationship with Taylor.
Faraji says she reported the relationship to Fox’s HR department, and that Acho “had always been respectful to Ms. Faraji and never threatened or hurt her.” Faraji says her firing from the network came in part because she confirmed the Acho-Taylor relationship to HR.
