← Straight Shooter with Stephen A.
Straight Shooter with Stephen A.
Stephen A's Take: Stephen A. and Reporter Tori Cooper discuss Skip Bayless and the harassment suit.
00:15:39
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- [00:00]
Stephen A. Smith
Are you still quoting 30 year old movies? Have you said cool beans in the past 90 days? Do you think Discover isn't widely accepted? If this sounds like you, you're stuck in the past. Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. And every time you make a purchase with your card, you automatically earn cash back. Welcome to the now it pays to Discover. Learn more@discover.com credit card based on the February 2024 Nielsen report.
- [00:29]
Greg Rosenthal
What's up, everyone? It's Greg Rosenthal and I'm teaming up with the King of Spring, Daniel Jeremiah. He requires me to say that we're going to be bringing you 40s and free agents, the only podcast you'll need this NFL draft season. From DJs mock drafts to my top 101, free agents will have it covered for you with all new episodes every Thursday keeping you up to date as we head to the NFL Draft. Listen to 40s and free agents starting on March 6th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
- [01:03]
Stephen A. Smith
The first order of business I'm going to get into, I'm gonna make sure that I don't get into it alone. Before I bring up the subject, let me introduce all of you to a friend of mine, a dear friend of mine who's contributing to this show. This is her second day contributing to the show. She is the wonderful, the incomparable Tori Cooper. She is there sitting in my seat in my studio. How are you, Tori? How's everything going? How was your weekend?
- [01:26]
Tori Cooper
It's an honor to be here. You know, I spent it here in New York. I enjoyed it. Stephen, it was great to get a call back from you to talk with you on your show again.
- [01:33]
Stephen A. Smith
That's right. And that's what we have to do. And I'll get back to you in just a second, Tory, because I definitely want to get your take on a couple of matters because I think it's apropos that I have you here with me. I have to get started with this subject because we all know that anytime you mention Skip Bayless, anybody wants to, most folks want to hear what I have to say. And that's where we're going to get started because it's sports media news, which makes it apropos. And it involves a recent lawsuit filed against Fox, Fox Sports and several people, including my buddy Skip Bayless, my former colleague at espn. The suit, filed by a woman named Nasheen Faraji, a former hairstylist for the company, cites several instances of workplace misconduct. Okay. The 42 page. That's right, 42 page suit names several defendants, including Fox, Fox Sports executive vice president Charlie Dixon, and even host Joy Taylor. Faraji alleges Dixon grabbed her buttocks at a birthday party, and when she relayed the encounter to Taylor, the Fox host allegedly told her to, quote, get over it, end quote. As for Skip Bayless, Faraji says he touched her inappropriately and propositioned her for sex, offering her $1.5 million, end quote. I'll get to Tori and her thoughts on for a second. First things first, let me tell you why I had to cover this. Number one, it's news. Number two, I was just on the air a few weeks ago and took some heat for the fact that I pointed out that I've been friends with jay Z for 25 years and I know nothing about what happened. No intimate details. Certainly can't be irresponsible and not try to interfere with a legal matter lawsuit. But in the same breath, I didn't think it was a crime to point out that the person that I've known for 25 years, that's. I, I've never seen somebody that would be capable of that. With that meaning that person that I was around for 25 years. The same applies to Skip Bayless. Now, I don't know what happened. I don't work at Fox. I worked at Fox from 2001 to 2003. I haven't been there. I haven't been in that building in over 20 years. I don't know any details or anything like that. And I'm not here to castigate Ms. Faraji or anybody else. I don't know Charlie Dixon that well, even though he used to play, used to work. I'm sorry, at espn. I don't know Joy Taylor that well, even though she and I have interacted with one another on several occasions throughout her career. And I find her to be a consummate professional, very good at what she does, very capable, very knowledgeable about the world of sports and what have you. I also know that she's big on women empowerment, so it's hard to imagine her saying, get over it. But again, I don't know. But we all know that when you see Stephen A. Smith with a subject like this and the name involves Skip Bayless, that's what you want to know about. And here's what I would tell you. I don't know what happened, but just like I said, I've known jay Z for 25 years. I can't imagine that I've known Skip for just as long. I can't imagine it. I can't imagine it. Especially when they brought up the one and a half million dollars. 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. I don't, I don't. And I'm not going to get involved. I think it's incredibly dicey and irresponsible for people who don't know to act like they do know. But in the same breath, I also feel it's important that if you know people or you think you know people and you've had a long standing relationship with those people, that it's not a crime for you to say. The person that I know, the person that I've been around, the person that I worked with in his case, you know, for four straight years, from 2012 to 2016, doing first take every weekday morning at 10am to 12 noon. The person that I knew since our days at Fox Sports when we would appear on Jim Rome's show, okay, the Last Word and stuff like that, and we were in the same Fox building off of Pico Boulevard and Avenue of the Stars. The person that I've seen that really, really trust almost no one and doesn't expose himself to anybody, you know, eating the same breakfast and lunch every day. His vice is a diet Mountain Dew and he doesn't socialize with people. 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. But obviously this is a legal matter he's going to have to deal with because this situation doesn't appear to be going away. A lawsuit has been filed. This person who's a hairstylist, the people that I've spoken to in the last 24 hours that have some knowledge about her, says that she's the kind of person that she's meticulous with her details and she's going to chronicle things and, and, and, and, and that's how she operates. I don't know her, I don't know them. I know Skip, and I'm very, very heartbroken that he finds himself in this situation being accused of these allegations. But I can't be over the airways being irresponsible and attaching truth or innocent, you know, or guilt to anything that I know nothing about. All I can say, and I don't think it's a crime to say, is just like I said with Jay Z, the person that I've known for 25 years, I've never seen anything like that from that person, anything close to that from that person. That's the same thing that I would tell you about Skip Bayless. That's all I can say. I have nothing else to add because I don't know what happened, I don't know what was said, I don't know whether something was misconstrued or anything like that. That's where I'm coming from with it. Tory, I know you had thoughts and opinions about this. I'm really interested in hearing what you have to say. You are a lady in this industry. You've been a journalist for years. You know what level of professional integrity is supposed to come with the business, you know, the tenants that come associated with it. And obviously, I am not a woman. You are. And so when you see a story like this, I'd like to know what your thoughts are and any perspective you could provide.
- [08:05]
Tori Cooper
My initial reactions were disappointment as well, because Skip Bayless has an incredible legacy in the sports commentary world. You worked alongside him. Everybody knows Skip Bayless, and it was disappointing to know that his name was gonna be. When you Google his name today, this is the lawsuit that's gonna pop up. And this may pop up for several weeks now. So you can't get away from something like this once it's in writing. Now, this is a civil matter, and anytime you're reading a 40 page document like this, when I read through it, you know, initially, you know, you have to be unbiased when you're listening to these allegations. But you have to remember that this is simply that allegations. And this is going to be an issue that's going to be talked about for several weeks. But initially I was disappointed to see Skip's name in this as well as Ms. Faraji. You know, as a woman, I can tell you that whenever you hear about your colleagues or anyone going through this, you're hurt for them, you know. And based off her allegations in this civil lawsuit, she says that she spoke to several people about trying to talk about some of the things that she was allegedly exposed to and she was told to be quiet and that if you want to keep your job as a single mother, you need to let this go and see that she was there for a number of years, seven to 10 years that she was there. And she talks about a Number of different allegations in different instances when she was exposed to other people. She mentioned Charlie Dixon, executive vice president. She mentioned that she was allegedly at a bar where, you know, her back was groped, et cetera. So there's a number of different allegations as you comb through this suit that are alarming. And then the silencing behavior that allegedly took place. And unfortunately, Steven, in this world that we live in, I mean, it's one of the reasons why I left the sports industry initially, because I felt like people were flirting with me and not taking my perspective or my preparation seriously when I would show up to interview them. Because it's hard to get past your looks. And as you saw, she's an absolutely beautiful woman. So that's just the unfortunate reality that the sports world is that world. But it's not just in sports. It's in news, too.
- [10:10]
Stephen A. Smith
So, yeah, I got a couple of questions to throw your way. Cause I'm very interested and intrigued by something. A couple of things that you said. Number one, you talked about departing from the sports, from the sports industry for a while because, you know, the way folks approached you. It's one thing for folks, and I'm not saying it's appropriate, please don't get me wrong. But it's one thing for somebody to flirt with you or to not take you seriously because of your looks. Were they. Did you consider it harassment? And if so, what would you define as harassment? Just for a lot of viewers out there, both male and female, who don't get that sometimes explain that.
- [10:48]
Tori Cooper
I would definitely not consider it harassment at all. I just was advancements that I was not interested in being around at all. Especially when I'm at work, I'm trying to focus on work. And I come here to respect you. And I would expect the exact same in return. If I'm gonna prepare questions and watch you for nearly two hours and take notes on your play, and then I show up in your locker room to have a conversation with you. And I'm even filming this myself and editing this myself at times. How come you can't give me the same respect as a professional? That was the environment I was in. And for me, that's not the level of respect I wanted to be exposed to on a daily basis. And I saw that this was gonna be a mountain climb with men potentially just being disrespectful. Does it now, as you. You asked me about the difference between disrespect essentially, and harassment. No one touched me. I didn't have to push advances away in the sports arena, but I did have to push advances away in the news arena. So someone unfortunately ended up getting fired for the way that I was handled inappropriately. I won't go into specific details about that, but I was at work minding my business and essentially someone made some advances that were inappropriate and they were eventually fired. And as it relates to speaking up about that, I can tell you personally, I was scared to speak up about it. I was genuinely scared. This was one of my first jobs in tv. I just landed a sports reporting and anchor job. And the last thing I wanted to do was attract any attention to myself in any way. And I wanted to make sure that the focus would remain on my talent. Tori's not a problem. Tori comes in as a professional, does her job, and I'm not ending up in HR with complaints and having to go back and forth and prove that this happened when there's no cameras around. But by the grace of God, I had women around me who said, tori, absolutely not. This has been an issue with not just you. This is an issue that we have all been dealing with. And now he just took it too far and it just happened to be with you. And you owe it to not only yourself to respect yourself, but also all of us who have been going through this too, to speak up about it. So I did.
- [12:58]
Stephen A. Smith
So what are your thoughts about the, you know, the allegations that Joy Taylor, another woman, you know, who's in this industry, who's recognized as being very attractive but also very capable, very professional, what are your thoughts with the allegations that she told Ms. Faraji? Get over it. I mean, first of all, is that something that you deem plausible, possible that women may say to each other in this industry? Do you find that to be far fetched? What do you make of that?
- [13:32]
Tori Cooper
We were not in the room, so we'll never know. These are allegations. Right? I want to make sure that's clear. Whenever we talk about topics like this, we have to make sure that these are, of course, really well understood. These are allegations. We are not in the room. Now, on the other side of that, I will say that luckily I was in a room where someone was telling me to come forward. But I am not shocked that other women would essentially say, look, it's not. You're dealing with Fox. This is a huge corporation. Keep your hair, stylist job, don't speak up, just try to let it go. And you know, I would not be shocked by that at all. Yeah, I would not be shocked by that.
- [14:07]
Stephen A. Smith
I know it shocked Me, it definitely shocked me because when I see a lot of women with their podcasts, the television shows, et cetera, and very, very big on women empowerment, you know, big, you know, uplifting ladies in this industry and what have you, it's. It's hard to imagine that something like that would be said because obviously that stays with you forever. But, you know, the, the, the. I think the tough part for Joy Taylor is that these two were considered friends for a very long time. If there's anybody that you confide in, in terms of your thoughts, it would be somebody you perceive as a friend. So in that regard, I. I don't know what to make of it. I just have to acknowledge that, having said that, when we look at this situation right now with Skip, my problem is this. And I said this, Tory and I took heat for this, but I didn't care. It's one thing if you come over the airwaves and you're proclaiming somebody's innocence and you weren't there, you couldn't provide an eyewitness account, et cetera, et cetera, I think that's beyond the pale. I don't think any of us could do that. I can't do that for Skip today. I could have do that for Jay Z a few weeks ago. I couldn't do that for anybody. Right. But it's another thing entirely where you've known somebody for 25 years, and it's a crime for you to say, that's not what I saw. I've never seen anything that would give me that kind of indication. I would hope that if somebody had made an accusation, something like that against me, that people would look at me and be like, nah, Stephen ain't doing that. That's not who the hell he is. He wouldn't at least say that. That's how I feel as a woman in this industry, as a woman, period. In a world that we're living in, where such heightened awareness has been pushed towards acknowledging what women have had to go through and what you've had to be silent about for so long, how do you feel about people who take such a position like the one that I just described?
- [15:59]
Tori Cooper
At the end of the day, it's a character witness. I mean, you have 25 years of a relationship with someone, and as you said, I would hope that friends of mine in the industry would know that if someone was making allegations against me that they felt were out of character to go alongside the Tori Cooper name, I would hope that a friend like you in the industry who's had personal experiences with someone would speak up, you know, but at the end of the day, be cognizant of the fact that, look, at the end of the day, this is the person I knew and. And I was not in that room.
- [16:38]
Greg Rosenthal
What's up, everyone? It's Greg Rosenthal, and I'm teaming up with the King of Spring, Daniel Jeremiah. He requires me to say that we're going to be bringing you 40s and free agents, the only podcast you'll need this NFL draft season. From DJs mock drafts to my top 101 free agents, we'll have it covered for you with all new episodes every Thursday keeping you up to date as we head to the NFL Draft. Listen to 40s and free agents starting on March 6th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
- [17:09]
Julie Swerbinks
What's up, everyone? Julie Swerbinks here along with former NHL player Nate Thompson.
- [17:14]
Stephen A. Smith
We're doing a new podcast together. Here we go.
- [17:17]
Julie Swerbinks
The name Energy Line with Nate and jsb.
- [17:20]
Stephen A. Smith
Each week we'll get together and talk about hockey life. All topics are fair game, right?
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Julie Swerbinks
Exactly. And you'll never know who will drop by to join us.
- [17:29]
Stephen A. Smith
Julie is pretty well connected. She has text threads going that you wouldn't believe.
- [17:34]
Julie Swerbinks
Listen to Energy Line with Nate and jsb on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.