Tori Cooper (8:05)

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.

Stephen A. Smith (10:10)

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.

Tori Cooper (10:48)

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.

Stephen A. Smith (12:57)

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?

Tori Cooper (13:31)

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.

Stephen A. Smith (14:07)

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?

Tori Cooper (15:58)

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.

Greg Rosenthal (16:38)

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.

Julie Swerbinks (17:08)

What's up, everyone? Julie Swerbinks here along with former NHL player Nate Thompson.

Stephen A. Smith (17:13)

We're doing a new podcast together. Here we go.

Julie Swerbinks (17:16)

The name Energy Line with Nate and jsb.

Stephen A. Smith (17:19)

Each week we'll get together and talk about hockey life. All topics are fair game, right?

Julie Swerbinks (17:24)

Exactly. And you'll never know who will drop by to join us.

Stephen A. Smith (17:28)

Julie is pretty well connected. She has text threads going that you wouldn't believe.

Julie Swerbinks (17:33)

Listen to Energy Line with Nate and jsb on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.