Stephen A. Smith, Marcellus Wiley and Jason | College News

Reactions to the allegations in a lawsuit that longtime Fox Sports speak show host Skip Bayless sexually harassed his hairstylist and that FS1 host Joy Taylor had romantic relationships with two outstanding co-workers are littering social media.

It was no shock that three of essentially the most outstanding voices in sports activities speak tv — all of whom beforehand labored at Fox Sports — cleared their throats and let it fly.

For Marcellus Wiley, a former NFL participant who beforehand labored at FS1, the lawsuit confirmed what he already suspected.

Former Fox Sports host Jason Whitlock congratulated himself for being cautious of girls within the community’s make-up room, then went excessive with sexist feedback about Taylor.

And Stephen A. Smith, who pioneered debate sports activities TV with Bayless on ESPN’s “First Take” from 2012-16, basically grew to become a character witness for Bayless whereas underscoring that the lawsuit ought to be taken severely.

Fox Sports hairstylist Noushin Faraji filed the 42-page lawsuit — first reported by Front Office Sports — in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleging that Bayless propositioned her for years and supplied to pay her $1.5 million for intercourse. She additionally described a poisonous work atmosphere at Fox Sports in L.A., alleging that Taylor engaged in romantic relationships with government vice president Charlie Dixon and Emmanuel Acho, an ex-NFL participant who co-hosted “Speak for Yourself” on FS1 with Taylor and LeSean McCoy from 2022-23.

Acho apparently deleted a 2022 social media video during which he promoted the launch of the show by praising Taylor. In the video he mentioned, “Do you all realize how hard it is to get into the position she is in? So often there is misogyny and sexism running rampant in sports and we don’t even care what women have to say in sports.

“But Joy is not only in the position on TV as a Black woman, but as an opinionist, so not just asking men what they think but adding her own unique and distinct insight. It’s hard to do, but Joy, you have done it. … Joy, congratulations and look forward to working with you.”

Wiley, who co-hosted “Speak for Yourself” from 2018-22 first with Whitlock then with Acho, addressed the lawsuit on his podcast, saying, “I never heard that Charlie Dixon and Joy Taylor were sleeping together. But, upon hearing that, I’m not gonna lie to y’all. It makes a lot of things make sense. It unlocks a lot for me.

“Sleeping with Emmanuel Acho? I’ve heard that before. Multiple times, as recent as a week or two ago. Part of the reason it was suggested that they do a show together is because of these allegations in the lawsuit that they were sleeping together, conspiring to get that to go. Conspiring with Charlie, conspiring with Emmanuel Acho, ‘Let’s make this work.’”

Wiley apparently was referring to a current flurry of motion on Fox Sports speak exhibits. He had been changed by Taylor and McCoy within the rebranded “Speak” in 2022. But final August, Acho and McCoy moved to “Undisputed” to exchange Bayless, who was let go as a result of of declining rankings. Keyshawn Johnson and Paul Pierce, who have been working with Bayless on “Undisputed,” moved to the rebranded “Speak” with Taylor.

“Unlocking the piece of Charlie,” Wiley mentioned. “If true, I’m looking at my history and I’m looking at the history of a lot of other talents on that network a lot differently. A lot differently in a really bad way. … Imagine if Charlie is allegedly sleeping with Joy Taylor and Emmanuel Acho and there’s somebody who’s not sleeping with Joy Taylor.”

Whitlock, on his podcast “Fearless,” mirrored on his time and interactions with Faraji whereas at Fox Sports whereas additionally making disparaging feedback about Taylor.

“I was a fan of Noushin, thought she was a good person,” Whitlock mentioned. “Did I think that Noushin and all the women in hair and makeup at Fox Sports needed to be handled carefully? Yes, yes I did. Anybody that knew me and knew my reputation at Fox Sports, it was like, ‘Hey, I’m going to come into this makeup room, I’m going to say very little. Because I’m not going to give any of you leverage over me.’”

When Whitlock turned his consideration to Taylor, nevertheless, he tried to make her alleged romantic relationships with co-workers a image of what he perceives as societal ills. Then he made questionable personal feedback about her bodily look that The Times received’t repeat.

“Joy Taylor is a symbol of this whole feminist movement, this whole Black queens movement, this whole DEI movement,” he mentioned. “This whole sharing everything with women, and, ‘Hey there’s gotta be a woman host on all of these shows.’ Well, there’s consequences to that, and this whole system has been set up to create the kind of chaos and division and inefficiency and corruption that we’re seeing spelled out in this lawsuit, [and] all across American media.”

“I basically, for the most part, just kept my distance from Joy Taylor. Not because I didn’t like her, just because I knew myself. I know what I’m capable of. … Like, ‘Jay, keep your distance, that’s going to get you into trouble.’”

Smith, by comparability, took the high street on his podcast, “The Stephen A. Smith Show,” saying that whereas he’s “heartbroken” for his former colleague Bayless, he has zero information in regards to the veracity of Faraji’s allegations.

“I haven’t been in that [Fox Sports] building in more than 20 years, I’m not here to castigate Ms. Faraji. I don’t know what happened,” he mentioned. “I’ve known Skip for just as long and I can’t imagine it. The Skip Bayless I know has a hard time giving away $15. He’s one of the cheapest people I know. … Imagining him in this position is shocking to say the least, and all I could tell you is that it’s not the Skip Bayless I know.

“But that doesn’t mean that I have any inside knowledge of this — I don’t. And I’m not going to get involved. It’s incredibly dicey for people who don’t know to act like they know. ”

Smith did add that people he’s spoken to “that have some knowledge” about Faraji say her allegations shouldn’t be taken calmly.

“This person who is a hairstylist, the people that I’ve spoken to in the last 24 hours that have some knowledge about her say that she’s meticulous with her details and she’s going to chronicle things and that’s how she operates,” he mentioned.