On January 3, 2025, Noushin Faraji filed a complaint against Fox Sports and former Fox Sports personality Skip Bayless, alleging that Bayless offered to pay her $1.5 million for sex. Faraji, who worked a hairstylist on the set of Fox Sports for over ten years, was fired in 2024 and subsequently filed the complaint. The complaint details Bayless’ continued, unwanted sexual advances toward Faraji while on set, including kissing, hugging, and promises that he would “change her life” if she agreed to have sex with him. As a result of the complaint, Bayless and Fox Sports now face suit for counts of sexual battery, failure to prevent harassment, and hostile work environment.
According to the complaint, Fox Sports failed to prevent or reprimand Bayless’ sexual advances. As a result, the set became a toxic and uncomfortable work environment for Faraji and other female employees. Faraji explains that she at first kept silent about Bayless’ harassment, because “speaking up seemed futile and dangerous.” The complaint recounts Faraji’s efforts to confide in her co-worker, Joy Taylor, about sexual harassment concerns within the workplace. Instead of reporting the harassment to an executive, Taylor dismissed her concerns.
In addition to Ms. Faraji, the complaint mentions an unnamed woman who was allegedly harassed by the Executive Vice President of Content for the Fox Sports channel, Charlie Dixon. According to the woman, Dixon threatened her, demanding sex “if she wanted to renew her contract.”
Just weeks after Ms. Faraji filed her lawsuit, former Fox Sports host Julie Stewart-Binks sued Fox and Charlie Dixon with sexual assault allegations. Stewart-Binks’ suit alleges that Dixon sexually assaulted her during a Super Bowl meeting he had organized at a hotel. Her complaint also claims that she disclosed the incident with Dixon to human resources, yet Dixon remained an executive at Fox Sports. As of now, it is unclear if the unnamed party in Faraji’s complaint is related to Stewart-Binks’ suit.
Both lawsuits highlight an uncomfortable work environment for female employees at Fox Sports and provide a stark contrast to the polished image that the network strives to present. In response to the suits, Fox has stated that they “take these allegations seriously and have no further comment at this time given this pending litigation.” Fox has since requested that the case be dismissed entirely, and Bayless has denied the allegations.
This lawsuit comes in the wake of other high-profile cases of celebrity sexual exploitation featured in the media in recent years. Similarly to those cases, lawsuits like Faraji’s illustrate how fame and authority can facilitate commercial sexual exploitation. Well-known public figures, such as Bayless and Dixon, often weaponize their fame and authority to take advantage of others within their professional environments. Commercial sexual exploitation is easily perpetuated within the media industry because of the power imbalance created between executives and high-ranking artists who hold significant control over their subordinate employees.
In this case, Ms. Faraji’s position as a hairstylist in a competitive industry made her dependent on approval from the executives and personalities of Fox Sports, like Dixon and Bayless. As a hairstylist working on set for over ten years, her career was tied to Fox Sports and its decision-makers. Her hesitation to share her story was not just about being fired from Fox Sports but also damage to her reputation within a competitive industry and her overall livelihood.
When the individuals being targeted are dependent on public figures for their livelihoods, it becomes easier for perpetrators to manipulate them. The CSE Institute has noted, “where the condition of one’s access to gainful employment includes being subjected to sexual harassment, there is a clear connection to commerce/economic activity and thus to commercial sexual exploitation.” The exploitation seen in these celebrity cases is not an isolated issue but one that reflects the broader societal problem of sexual misconduct in the workplace, especially in male-dominated occupations such as sports.
The CSE Institute believes that media companies have a duty to hold celebrities accountable for sexual exploitation regardless of their fame or reputation. Media coverage can help combat celebrity sexual exploitation by holding sex buyers accountable, drawing attention to policy reform, and highlighting survivors’ stories rather than shielding those in power.
Most importantly, the CSE Institute applauds Ms. Faraji and Ms. Stewart-Binks for coming forward.
Behind the veil of fame, complaints such as Ms. Faraji’s and Ms. Stewart-Binks’ reveal the darker truth of how celebrity status and the power that comes with it can be used to perpetuate commercial sexual exploitation.
The CSE Institute will provide updates as they become available.
This piece is part of our first-year law student blog series. Congratulations to author Skylar Glass on being chosen!
All views expressed herein are personal to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law or of Villanova University.