Stephen A. Smith expresses his “heartbreak” about the claims of sexual violence and other workplace misbehavior against former ESPN coworker Skip Bayless.
“His vice is a Diet Mountain Dew, and he doesn’t socialize with people,” Smith said on the Jan. 6 episode of his “Stephen A. Smith Show” podcast. “That’s the guy I know. So imagining him being in this kind of position is shocking, to say the least. All I could tell you is that it’s not the Skip Bayless I know.”
Noushin Faraji, a hairstylist at Fox Sports during Bayless’ employment there, filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles on Jan. 3. Faraji claimed that starting in 2017, he repeatedly made sexual approaches toward her, rubbing against her and giving her “lingering hugs” and “kissing on the cheek.” In 2021, she claimed he offered her $1.5 million for sex, and when she declined, he threatened to fire her.
“I can’t imagine it,” Smith said as he reflected on the accusations. “The Skip Bayless I know has a hard time giving away $15. He’s one of the cheapest people I know. That’s just me, but that doesn’t mean that I have any inside knowledge about any of this.”
Prior to Bayless leaving for Fox Sports 1, Smith and Bayless hosted together ESPN’s “First Take” from 2012 until 2016. Before declaring his departure from the network last year, he assisted in running the program “Undisputed” there. From 2012 until 2016, Smith and Bayless worked together as sports analysts on ESPN’s “First Take” before Bayless left for Fox Sports 1. He helped lead the show “Undisputed” on the network before announcing his resignation in 2024.
On his podcast, Smith said he doesn’t know Faraji in real life, but that in the last 24 hours he’d spoken to people who did know her or at least have “some knowledge about her” and told him that she’s “meticulous with her details.”
News of the suit was first reported by Front Office Sports, and they finally received a statement from Fox Sports.
“We take these allegations seriously,” the statement said, “and have no further comment at this time given this pending litigation.”
“I don’t know them; I know Skip,” he added. “I’m very, very heartbroken that he finds himself in this situation, being accused of these allegations. But I can’t be over the airwaves being irresponsible and attaching truth or … guilt to anything that I know nothing about.”
