Shannon Sharpe has finally broken his silence to address the lawsuit that was recently filed by Noushin Faraji, a former Fox Sports hairstylist. In this 42-page lawsuit, Faraji accused Sharpe’s former Undisputed co-host Skip Bayless of inappropriate behavior.
The details of the suit have brought other Fox personalities into the mess.
Sharpe Breaks His Silence
Sharpe was asked to address “the elephant in the room” during the latest episode of his and Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson’s “Nightcap” podcast.
“That ain’t got nothing to do with me,” Shape said. “It doesn’t. What do y’all want me to say? That ain’t got nothing to do with me. So, there’s nothing to address. I don’t know why everybody keep — if you notice, everybody’s posting it, they got me.”
“In those 42 pages, it doesn’t mention that Shannon Sharpe did anything,” he added. “But yall want to get clicks, so ya’ll mention me.”
Well, yes, considering Sharpe was a co-host with Bayless and Taylor, and would have been more knowledgable about what goes on behind the scenes than the random man on the street!
Related: Shannon Sharpe Hammers ESPN Colleagues Trying To Keep Caitlin Clark ‘In Her Place’
Faraji’s Lawsuit
Faraji, who worked at Fox Sports for over a decade, never accused Sharpe of any wrongdoing in his lawsuit. Faraji does mention Sharpe at one point, however. She alleges that Bayless accused her of having sex with Sharpe.
“On April 13, 2022, Mr. Bayless texted Ms. Faraji: ‘Not comfortable coming down there. Just do what you need to do. It’s ok.’ Ms. Faraji asked him what was wrong,” the lawsuit states. “He replied: ‘Same stuff. Worse.’ Ms. Faraji, concerned about her own job, walked to Mr. Bayless’s fitting room to see if everything was okay. Mr. Bayless answered the door, and before Ms. Faraji could speak, he began to angrily accuse Ms. Faraji of [having sex with] Mr. Sharpe.”
“Ms. Faraji tried to explain that she did not have any feelings towards Mr. Sharpe and had never slept with him or any other talent member or employee at Fox, but before she could speak, Mr. Bayless demanded she come to his car after the show,” the lawsuit continues. “Ms. Faraji responded that she could not come sit in his car as it was inappropriate. Mr. Bayless grew irate and then left.”
As you can see in the tweet below, Faraji’s lawsuit is complicated and makes numerous accusations.
Faraji Doubles Down
Faraji went on to claim that Bayless only learned that she had never been romantically involved with Sharpe in August of 2023. Bayless then allegedly apologized to her. She claims that it was Charlie Dixon, an Executive Vice President of Content for FS1, who told Bayless that she was sleeping with Sharpe.
Sharpe and Bayless hosted Undisputed together from 2016 until June of 2023. It was then that Sharpe left the show after numerous verbal confrontations with Bayless both on and off camera. Sharpe has since joined ESPN as a commentator.
“Faraji was forced to endure a misogynistic, racist, and ableist workplace where executives and talent were allowed to physically and verbally abuse workers with impunity,” during her tenure at Fox Sports, according to her lawsuit.
“We take these allegations seriously and have no further comment at this time given this pending litigation,” a Fox Sports spokesperson told The New York Post in response to the lawsuit.
This is clearly a very messy situation for everyone involved. We will be sure to stay on top of it.