January 9, 2025 • 19 mins
Stephen A. Smith is a New York Times Bestselling Author, Executive Producer, host of ESPN's First Take, and co-host of NBA Countdown.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
We all know where we gotta get started on this
particular day, and that's getting started with the lawsuit.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
The recent lawsuit.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Filed against Fox Fox Sports and several current and former
personnel there, including my former colleague, the one and.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Only Skip Bayless.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
The forty two page document, filed by a woman named
Nushen Faraji, a former hairstylist for the company, cite several
instances of workplace misconduct. The suit named several defendants, including
Fox Sports executive vice president Charlie Dixon and host Joye Taylor.
Faraji alleges Dixon grabbed her behind at a birthday party,
(00:39):
and when she relayed the encounter with Joey Taylor, the
Fox host allegedly told her.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
To quote get over it.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
And that is where I feel compelled to begin today.
There's been a lot of reaction to this story all
over social media. Has it been about Charlie Dixon, Not
that much. Has it even been about Skip Bayless, not
that much at all. Has it about Fox Sports overall?
Really not that much at all. It's all significantly paled
(01:06):
in comparison to the level of vitriol, venom, insults and
beyond aimed at one missus Joy Taylor. And that's why
I want to bring on my next guest. I shouldn't
call her a guest. She's a journalist. She's a former
news anchor in Atlanta. She's a personally personal good friend
(01:28):
of mine, and she's a damn good friend of the
show over the last few days. And I'm talking about
the one and only Tory Cooper. She's back here with
yours truly right now. Toyo, how are you?
Speaker 2 (01:36):
How's everything going?
Speaker 3 (01:37):
I'm doing well.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Listen.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
I had to bring you back because I wanted to
get your thoughts on what I just brought up about
Joy Taylor. And as you've watched all of this unfold,
I know you, like myself, we've read the forty two
page you know allegations you know righte with allegations against
Joy tailor against Charlie Dixon, against Skip Bayless, specifically pertaining
(02:03):
the Joy Taylor. I want to know what your thoughts
are about all the heat that she's been taking over
the last few days.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Why is such a focus on Joy Taylor. First of all,
she's not being accused of sexual battery, she's not being
accused sexual harassment. She's being accused of engaging in sexual
behavior to earn her spot that she has on Fox Sports. Now,
the problem I have with this, Steven, is this continues
(02:32):
to be the issue in this industry. Is when a
man gets there in any industry, really, when a man
gets there, he earned it. When a woman gets there,
she slept your way to the top seven half. And
so that's issue number one. Issue number two is that
we're just going to completely negate her experience and the
fact that she is more than qualified to be in
(02:52):
this role. And if you just read this lawsuit at
face value, and this is my problem with these lawsuits
is people just take it as fact. These are alligats
at the end of the day. And when you look
at this lawsuit and you comb through it at face value,
they paint her as a bartender who had little experience,
who was a radio experience in radio and was not
qualified for Fox Sports and she was working as a
(03:14):
fillin anchor and a bartender at the same time. I've
worked two jobs to get into this industry. I worked
behind the scenes first. So we don't earn these spots lightly.
And that's where I get really frustrated with people on
social media who are trying to come for this woman's
experience and credibility to be considered for this role. So
let's just go back into the history really quick, into
her experience since we want to talk about it. She
(03:35):
worked behind the scenes as an executive producer, that's someone
who writes the shows for the people you see with
the mic one. Then she worked her way into a
slot to be a co host on that show on
that radio show in Miami. Then on top of that,
she took the show to number one. She took the
show to number one, and then after that, then she
(03:56):
makes her way to California. Is essentially doing what it
appears to be free and it's filling in and working
to get that spot, and eventually she gets called on
many people right now, steven A would say, I'm not
even qualified to sit next to you. But it's not
always about experience. If it was about experience in this industry,
then so many people wouldn't even have the spots they have.
It's about a lot of other intangibles. But for this
(04:18):
specific issue, this woman was more than qualified. She's been
a credible a Fox Sports commentator and she's doing her job.
So that's the big issue. Another issue on social media
I'm saying that's very upsetting is that people are saying,
you know, this is why women shouldn't be in sports.
This is why we don't want women involved in this,
because we're going to be faced with these allegations and
(04:40):
this is give us our world back. This is not
your world. You're not going to claim the sports environment.
And this is the problem that I have because at
the end of the day, this is a form of
entertainment that anyone can share, not anyone, but people can
share their take on it, and people can be engaged
in this topic. And lastly, this is the main issue
I have with this is another woman who's a minority
(05:04):
to stay who's also claiming that another woman who's a
minority did this. So I know that the female sports
anchors of the world right now are all cringing because
they're like, wow, oh, you just continue to feed right
into this, the same narrative that we don't deserve to
be up here at the desk with these men who love, live, breathe,
and sleep this topic. So now it's always about us
(05:26):
sleeping with people to get to the spot we're in.
And then now another woman is going to feed right
into that with these allegations, so it doesn't help we're
up against us women in this industry to have allegations
like this circulating around. But this also, she could file
her own lawsuit. She could there nothing has been proven,
so that's why all leave it.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
And here's the thing people need to understand. That's one
of the reasons that you might not be hearing anything
from her, nor skip baitlos to anybody else because they
can turn around and sue and they got there. I mean,
think about the allegations that have been thrown out against them,
think about, you know, the need that they may feel
to retaliate, and as a result of that, I think
that is even further requirement for people to be careful.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
But let me tell you why I wanted.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
You on here, Tory, because I have to admit I'm
pretty pissed off. Now there's a there's a few people's
names I'm not gonna mention because damn it, they ain't
worth it, Okay, and I get that, but there's a
few men out there that are acting like you know,
this is the perfect excuse to justify why we make
the argument that women don't belong in the industry, which
is incredibly an agree an incredibly egregious thing to say. Okay,
(06:31):
they'll look at any woman sitting in a host chair,
or any woman that's a reporter out there, or any
woman that has to walk into the locker room, and
all of a sudden, their credibility is being a questioned.
My thing, What I'm more pulled at by, rather even that,
is the women all over social media that are allowing
it to happen. And that's why I wanted you on
the show today because I said, I'm not gonna speak
(06:53):
about it just from the male, from the male perspective,
I'm gonna have a female in front of me that
I can bounce the off of to check me in
case I'm wrong about this, Correct me if I'm wrong,
because I don't spend a lot of time looking all
over social media, but I'm looking at an abundance of women,
and I'm saying the allegations.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
I understand what the allegations are.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
The allegations of Joey Taylor slept with Charlie Dixon and
she oss and she did it while she was married,
and well, first of all, the marriage part of her
business is nobody else's the boss situation obviously, is dicey.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Make no mistake about it.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
You got a girl that was supposed to be her
best friend that's supposedly diming her out right. Now, that's
incredibly unfortunate, But one could easily argue it's really not
about your guilt of innocence. It's about how guilty I
make you look, forcing you to capitulate to the demands
that I'm making civilly.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
We can get into that a little bit later.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
But what I find most egregious, most egregious toy is
the abundance of women out there who are laughing, who
are pointing the finger at Joey Taylor with a profound
level of guilt, as if they know. Even when they
throw in the word allegedly, they do it with smirks
on their face, sort of dismissive because in this business
(08:07):
we know how to speak with our body language, not
just with words. And not only that, they're using it
as an excuse to question her credibility. Now, I don't
know what happened. You don't know what happened. We don't
know what level of truth or falsehood exists with the
allegations that no Shine Faraji has thrown in the direction
of the executive at Fox Board, Skip Bayless, Joytaylor, or
(08:30):
anybody else.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
But let me tell you what I do know.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
I know that I've seen Joy Taylor on TV a
lot over the years, and I think she's pretty damn good.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
I think she's ready. I think she's very capable. I
think she's worthy of the position that she has on
Fox Sports.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
I think her podcast with Taylor Rooks is a damn
good podcast. I think her credentials in this business have
been established.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
I did an interview just yesterday. I was being interviewed by.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
God by the name of sins Rosenberg, a longtime conservative
radio host, and he was telling me how Jason Taylor,
the former Miami Dolphin, that Hall of Famer, her big brother,
her brother rather, he had called to see if he
could help, if sid could help her.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Get a job in the business, and he ended up
hiring her.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
And obviously, like you pointed out, she produced when she
had the opportunity, and that's what created other opportunities for her.
So I'm looking at it, Toy, and I'm saying, wait
a minute here, am I watching this correctly? They're an
abundance of women out there that are using this as
a license to question her credentials based off of having
(09:43):
you not have you not watched her over the years
on television and if you're going to do that, okay,
why would you? Why would you want to do that?
Even that That's where I'm at with it, Toy. That's
my problem, the fact that people are using this as
an excuse to question her condrenas if she.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Just got the job yesterday, well, last week or last
month of something. That would be one thing.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
She's been on TV for years showing her capability and
now all of that is being ignored because of allegations.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
That's where I'm at with the Toy. We where are you?
Speaker 3 (10:17):
There's the court of public opinion and then there's real court, right,
and again these are allegations and using it having women
you know, essentially, I mean to me, it seems like
it could be coming from a place of jealousy, like ooh,
finally put a target on her back. Now we can
say she wasn't qualified because not only is she beautiful,
but now we can say she wasn't qualified in dinner
(10:38):
or spot And I'm not shocked by it. People are Okay,
there's one thing I do want to talk about and
it is your looks. Your looks play into this. When
you are beautiful, you are up against a different battle
at times in this industry. I mean, people are always
going to try to say that your looks played into this.
(10:59):
Your looks do hell you in this. We cannot ignore that.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Pause pause, pause one thing. One thing, your looks or
how you present yourself? Right, question which one I'm asking?
Speaker 3 (11:13):
No, it's about how you present yourself. But the looks
do contribute to whether or not you have an on
camera look or not. If you ask any news director
right now, they are going to say, does she pop
through the screen? Does she make me pay attention? I'm
going to side in thirty seconds, whether or not I
want her on my show? Can she grab an audience?
That's what they're asking. So, yes, your looks are part
of it, but it's about your presentation and you know,
(11:36):
but there's other parts of this that I you know,
these allegations that do matter that I believe should set
precedent and hopefully change because when we come on and
talk about these issues, there's an opportunity for change. I
do believe that, and in this realm, I would say
some of the things that I've seen that are disappointing,
and if they are true, then maybe there's an opportunity
for change. Personally, I would not be going out to
(11:59):
drink with my bosses. We don't know if that happened.
That is one of the allegations that was made. But
on principle, I'm not going out to drinks with my executives.
I'm not going out to parties with them for a
number of reasons. One, I do not want to be
talked about in my newsroom like that. Why was she
out to drinks with them? What is she doing? I
(12:21):
don't want them knowing my personal life. I don't want
my bosses knowing my personal life. Number two and then
number three, Now you're opening yourself up to rumors to
spread about you that look like this. So this is
why you have to strike the right balance when you're
going to take a professional person into a public environment
outside the professional work setting, because now you're opening yourself
(12:41):
up to these types of allegations. So one, watch how
you're moving, watch how you carry yourself in the workplace,
because this is what you're going to open yourself up
to potentially, especially if you're the one in the highest spot.
A hairstylist is going to potentially come for you in
this way. Now, mind you, again, these are allegations. I
just want to continue to point that out because it's
the to this conversation. So that's That's one of the
(13:02):
main issues I wanted to bring up is not taking
your bosses out to lunch and dinner and opening yourself
up to this type of conversation, and three or two
sending the wrong signals. You gotta make sure you're not
sending the wrong signals.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Dressing provocatively, drinking, speaking in a certain way that that's unprofessional,
that's more informal than formal. All of those things definitely
contribute to it. And I don't disagree.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
You talked about the attire and the room for change,
and if you're okay with this, I would love to
talk about that piece to it, because please take one
of the talk to One of the things that people
have talked about is the sports environment is the more
laxed environment. You can wear a little bit, you can
be more yourself, you can you know, test the waters
a little bit about what you're gonna wear. Personally, I've
(13:50):
been disappointed in some of the stuff I've been seeing
when they wear in the sports environment, and not just
the sports environment meteorologists, they're also wearing clothes that I'm
not excited about. Because here's the thing. Don't you want
to pay attention to what I'm saying. Don't you want
people to pay attention to what I'm saying in my
skill set? Don't be a distraction in the workplace, all right,
(14:11):
you want people to care about what you're saying.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
Tory Cooper, Tory Cooper. Fit enough.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
But this is the stephen A. Smith Show, So you
know where I'm going. I'm gonna ask this question. I
need specifics. I mean, I'm not talking names. I'm talking
about when you talk about you don't like the stuff
that people.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Wear in the industry. I need examples. The ladies out
there need examples.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Perfect example, crop chops showing your midrift on air. I
don't care to see your belly button. We're not at
the beach, but I see it on air in the
sports world. Okay, that's number one. Number two, clevelandge, your
boobs are out. You're distracting people. The main thing is,
don't be distracting. But it's not just what the lack
(14:59):
of clothing. It's also the choices of clothing too. The
patterns are distracting. I'm seeing people wearing cheet of print,
I'm seeing people wearing pinstripes. I'm seeing people wear all
kinds of stuff that is completely distracting to the viewer.
The point of television that you were supposed to learn
early on is don't be a distraction to the viewer.
Let them pay attention to what you're saying. But too
many times I'm seeing people warn't, you know, inviting in
(15:23):
to be a distraction. It looks like they want to
be a distraction, honestly, and it looks like they want
the attention at times. And what are we here for.
We're here to be professionals, So let's show up that
way so people can focus on your skill and what
you have to say. Otherwise you're inviting the step of
behavior in In my opinion, is.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
There any truth to the notion that people have speculated
about that you have someplace and I can assure you
it's not Disney, I can promise you that, but that
there's some truth to the notion that you may have
certain networks that encourage that directly or indirectly, for females
(16:02):
to feel the need to dress in a certain provocative way.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Have you or have you heard of any.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Ladies in the industry expressing the notion that this is
what their bosses wanted.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
Yes, I've heard that.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
I heard that.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
That's the environment that you're in, and it's especially so
here's the thing. Consultants matter. This is why you're supposed
to have consultants come consult you on your wardrobe, consult
you on your makeup. And if these consultants are continuing
to lean into a cult drobe, oh, yeah, that's the waters. Yeah,
where that right color? Show your you know, yes, they
are contributing to it at the end of the day.
(16:44):
That's what I've heard for sure. But heresay's hearsay.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Right, I guess for me, going back to my original point,
it's not about what you say sometimes, it's about how
you say it.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
So if you've had women all over so.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Social media that were pissed off because Joey Taylor finds
herself in this position and that's what they're oozing, I
understand it. If you have women who were of the opinion,
know this is just an allegation, it's not facts such
as yourself such as me and what have you, And
(17:20):
they said, hey, you know what benefit of the doubt
in a sentintel proven guilty, etc. And by the way,
she's incredibly qualified because we watched her for years and
she knows what she's doing. I understand that what I
have a problem with is the joy no pun intended
females over social media appear to be having in bringing
(17:44):
her credibility in the question, not understanding or not being
sensitive to the plight that ladies have fought for decades
to gain.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
And elevate their level of credibility.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
That's number one and number two of the men who
will remain names because I really don't know. Oh as
much as they deserve it, I just don't want to
give them that kind of attention because the sorry asses
don't deserve it, but are talking in such a way
that they're acting like women don't belong in this industry.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
I can't believe they're getting away with stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
I'm gonna give you the last word on this toury,
go ahead and respond to that.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
There's room for change. Don't be a distraction. The women
on social media who are coming for Joy Taylor, it
looks like it's coming from a place of jealousy. So
that says something about you and the men who want
to act like we don't belong at the table. Look
at our credibility. How about you do some research on
our background. Don't just look at the way I look.
How about you go look into my experience and then
(18:44):
we'll talk about it. But I'll leave a day.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
I got you, Tory, Cooper, appreciate you, Tom, Thank you
so much, Tanks for being on the show with me today.
I'll catch you with you later, right, all right, it's
a good day.
We all know where we gotta get started on this
particular day, and that's getting started with the lawsuit.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
The recent lawsuit.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Filed against Fox Fox Sports and several current and former
personnel there, including my former colleague, the one and.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Only Skip Bayless.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
The forty two page document, filed by a woman named
Nushen Faraji, a former hairstylist for the company, cite several
instances of workplace misconduct. The suit named several defendants, including
Fox Sports executive vice president Charlie Dixon and host Joye Taylor.
Faraji alleges Dixon grabbed her behind at a birthday party,
(00:39):
and when she relayed the encounter with Joey Taylor, the
Fox host allegedly told her.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
To quote get over it.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
And that is where I feel compelled to begin today.
There's been a lot of reaction to this story all
over social media. Has it been about Charlie Dixon, Not
that much. Has it even been about Skip Bayless, not
that much at all. Has it about Fox Sports overall?
Really not that much at all. It's all significantly paled
(01:06):
in comparison to the level of vitriol, venom, insults and
beyond aimed at one missus Joy Taylor. And that's why
I want to bring on my next guest. I shouldn't
call her a guest. She's a journalist. She's a former
news anchor in Atlanta. She's a personally personal good friend
(01:28):
of mine, and she's a damn good friend of the
show over the last few days. And I'm talking about
the one and only Tory Cooper. She's back here with
yours truly right now. Toyo, how are you?
Speaker 2 (01:36):
How's everything going?
Speaker 3 (01:37):
I'm doing well.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Listen.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
I had to bring you back because I wanted to
get your thoughts on what I just brought up about
Joy Taylor. And as you've watched all of this unfold,
I know you, like myself, we've read the forty two
page you know allegations you know righte with allegations against
Joy tailor against Charlie Dixon, against Skip Bayless, specifically pertaining
(02:03):
the Joy Taylor. I want to know what your thoughts
are about all the heat that she's been taking over
the last few days.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Why is such a focus on Joy Taylor. First of all,
she's not being accused of sexual battery, she's not being
accused sexual harassment. She's being accused of engaging in sexual
behavior to earn her spot that she has on Fox Sports. Now,
the problem I have with this, Steven, is this continues
(02:32):
to be the issue in this industry. Is when a
man gets there in any industry, really, when a man
gets there, he earned it. When a woman gets there,
she slept your way to the top seven half. And
so that's issue number one. Issue number two is that
we're just going to completely negate her experience and the
fact that she is more than qualified to be in
(02:52):
this role. And if you just read this lawsuit at
face value, and this is my problem with these lawsuits
is people just take it as fact. These are alligats
at the end of the day. And when you look
at this lawsuit and you comb through it at face value,
they paint her as a bartender who had little experience,
who was a radio experience in radio and was not
qualified for Fox Sports and she was working as a
(03:14):
fillin anchor and a bartender at the same time. I've
worked two jobs to get into this industry. I worked
behind the scenes first. So we don't earn these spots lightly.
And that's where I get really frustrated with people on
social media who are trying to come for this woman's
experience and credibility to be considered for this role. So
let's just go back into the history really quick, into
her experience since we want to talk about it. She
(03:35):
worked behind the scenes as an executive producer, that's someone
who writes the shows for the people you see with
the mic one. Then she worked her way into a
slot to be a co host on that show on
that radio show in Miami. Then on top of that,
she took the show to number one. She took the
show to number one, and then after that, then she
(03:56):
makes her way to California. Is essentially doing what it
appears to be free and it's filling in and working
to get that spot, and eventually she gets called on
many people right now, steven A would say, I'm not
even qualified to sit next to you. But it's not
always about experience. If it was about experience in this industry,
then so many people wouldn't even have the spots they have.
It's about a lot of other intangibles. But for this
(04:18):
specific issue, this woman was more than qualified. She's been
a credible a Fox Sports commentator and she's doing her job.
So that's the big issue. Another issue on social media
I'm saying that's very upsetting is that people are saying,
you know, this is why women shouldn't be in sports.
This is why we don't want women involved in this,
because we're going to be faced with these allegations and
(04:40):
this is give us our world back. This is not
your world. You're not going to claim the sports environment.
And this is the problem that I have because at
the end of the day, this is a form of
entertainment that anyone can share, not anyone, but people can
share their take on it, and people can be engaged
in this topic. And lastly, this is the main issue
I have with this is another woman who's a minority
(05:04):
to stay who's also claiming that another woman who's a
minority did this. So I know that the female sports
anchors of the world right now are all cringing because
they're like, wow, oh, you just continue to feed right
into this, the same narrative that we don't deserve to
be up here at the desk with these men who love, live, breathe,
and sleep this topic. So now it's always about us
(05:26):
sleeping with people to get to the spot we're in.
And then now another woman is going to feed right
into that with these allegations, so it doesn't help we're
up against us women in this industry to have allegations
like this circulating around. But this also, she could file
her own lawsuit. She could there nothing has been proven,
so that's why all leave it.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
And here's the thing people need to understand. That's one
of the reasons that you might not be hearing anything
from her, nor skip baitlos to anybody else because they
can turn around and sue and they got there. I mean,
think about the allegations that have been thrown out against them,
think about, you know, the need that they may feel
to retaliate, and as a result of that, I think
that is even further requirement for people to be careful.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
But let me tell you why I wanted.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
You on here, Tory, because I have to admit I'm
pretty pissed off. Now there's a there's a few people's
names I'm not gonna mention because damn it, they ain't
worth it, Okay, and I get that, but there's a
few men out there that are acting like you know,
this is the perfect excuse to justify why we make
the argument that women don't belong in the industry, which
is incredibly an agree an incredibly egregious thing to say. Okay,
(06:31):
they'll look at any woman sitting in a host chair,
or any woman that's a reporter out there, or any
woman that has to walk into the locker room, and
all of a sudden, their credibility is being a questioned.
My thing, What I'm more pulled at by, rather even that,
is the women all over social media that are allowing
it to happen. And that's why I wanted you on
the show today because I said, I'm not gonna speak
(06:53):
about it just from the male, from the male perspective,
I'm gonna have a female in front of me that
I can bounce the off of to check me in
case I'm wrong about this, Correct me if I'm wrong,
because I don't spend a lot of time looking all
over social media, but I'm looking at an abundance of women,
and I'm saying the allegations.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
I understand what the allegations are.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
The allegations of Joey Taylor slept with Charlie Dixon and
she oss and she did it while she was married,
and well, first of all, the marriage part of her
business is nobody else's the boss situation obviously, is dicey.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Make no mistake about it.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
You got a girl that was supposed to be her
best friend that's supposedly diming her out right. Now, that's
incredibly unfortunate, But one could easily argue it's really not
about your guilt of innocence. It's about how guilty I
make you look, forcing you to capitulate to the demands
that I'm making civilly.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
We can get into that a little bit later.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
But what I find most egregious, most egregious toy is
the abundance of women out there who are laughing, who
are pointing the finger at Joey Taylor with a profound
level of guilt, as if they know. Even when they
throw in the word allegedly, they do it with smirks
on their face, sort of dismissive because in this business
(08:07):
we know how to speak with our body language, not
just with words. And not only that, they're using it
as an excuse to question her credibility. Now, I don't
know what happened. You don't know what happened. We don't
know what level of truth or falsehood exists with the
allegations that no Shine Faraji has thrown in the direction
of the executive at Fox Board, Skip Bayless, Joytaylor, or
(08:30):
anybody else.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
But let me tell you what I do know.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
I know that I've seen Joy Taylor on TV a
lot over the years, and I think she's pretty damn good.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
I think she's ready. I think she's very capable. I
think she's worthy of the position that she has on
Fox Sports.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
I think her podcast with Taylor Rooks is a damn
good podcast. I think her credentials in this business have
been established.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
I did an interview just yesterday. I was being interviewed by.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
God by the name of sins Rosenberg, a longtime conservative
radio host, and he was telling me how Jason Taylor,
the former Miami Dolphin, that Hall of Famer, her big brother,
her brother rather, he had called to see if he
could help, if sid could help her.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Get a job in the business, and he ended up
hiring her.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
And obviously, like you pointed out, she produced when she
had the opportunity, and that's what created other opportunities for her.
So I'm looking at it, Toy, and I'm saying, wait
a minute here, am I watching this correctly? They're an
abundance of women out there that are using this as
a license to question her credentials based off of having
(09:43):
you not have you not watched her over the years
on television and if you're going to do that, okay,
why would you? Why would you want to do that?
Even that That's where I'm at with it, Toy. That's
my problem, the fact that people are using this as
an excuse to question her condrenas if she.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Just got the job yesterday, well, last week or last
month of something. That would be one thing.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
She's been on TV for years showing her capability and
now all of that is being ignored because of allegations.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
That's where I'm at with the Toy. We where are you?
Speaker 3 (10:17):
There's the court of public opinion and then there's real court, right,
and again these are allegations and using it having women
you know, essentially, I mean to me, it seems like
it could be coming from a place of jealousy, like ooh,
finally put a target on her back. Now we can
say she wasn't qualified because not only is she beautiful,
but now we can say she wasn't qualified in dinner
(10:38):
or spot And I'm not shocked by it. People are Okay,
there's one thing I do want to talk about and
it is your looks. Your looks play into this. When
you are beautiful, you are up against a different battle
at times in this industry. I mean, people are always
going to try to say that your looks played into this.
(10:59):
Your looks do hell you in this. We cannot ignore that.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Pause pause, pause one thing. One thing, your looks or
how you present yourself? Right, question which one I'm asking?
Speaker 3 (11:13):
No, it's about how you present yourself. But the looks
do contribute to whether or not you have an on
camera look or not. If you ask any news director
right now, they are going to say, does she pop
through the screen? Does she make me pay attention? I'm
going to side in thirty seconds, whether or not I
want her on my show? Can she grab an audience?
That's what they're asking. So, yes, your looks are part
of it, but it's about your presentation and you know,
(11:36):
but there's other parts of this that I you know,
these allegations that do matter that I believe should set
precedent and hopefully change because when we come on and
talk about these issues, there's an opportunity for change. I
do believe that, and in this realm, I would say
some of the things that I've seen that are disappointing,
and if they are true, then maybe there's an opportunity
for change. Personally, I would not be going out to
(11:59):
drink with my bosses. We don't know if that happened.
That is one of the allegations that was made. But
on principle, I'm not going out to drinks with my executives.
I'm not going out to parties with them for a
number of reasons. One, I do not want to be
talked about in my newsroom like that. Why was she
out to drinks with them? What is she doing? I
(12:21):
don't want them knowing my personal life. I don't want
my bosses knowing my personal life. Number two and then
number three, Now you're opening yourself up to rumors to
spread about you that look like this. So this is
why you have to strike the right balance when you're
going to take a professional person into a public environment
outside the professional work setting, because now you're opening yourself
(12:41):
up to these types of allegations. So one, watch how
you're moving, watch how you carry yourself in the workplace,
because this is what you're going to open yourself up
to potentially, especially if you're the one in the highest spot.
A hairstylist is going to potentially come for you in
this way. Now, mind you, again, these are allegations. I
just want to continue to point that out because it's
the to this conversation. So that's That's one of the
(13:02):
main issues I wanted to bring up is not taking
your bosses out to lunch and dinner and opening yourself
up to this type of conversation, and three or two
sending the wrong signals. You gotta make sure you're not
sending the wrong signals.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Dressing provocatively, drinking, speaking in a certain way that that's unprofessional,
that's more informal than formal. All of those things definitely
contribute to it. And I don't disagree.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
You talked about the attire and the room for change,
and if you're okay with this, I would love to
talk about that piece to it, because please take one
of the talk to One of the things that people
have talked about is the sports environment is the more
laxed environment. You can wear a little bit, you can
be more yourself, you can you know, test the waters
a little bit about what you're gonna wear. Personally, I've
(13:50):
been disappointed in some of the stuff I've been seeing
when they wear in the sports environment, and not just
the sports environment meteorologists, they're also wearing clothes that I'm
not excited about. Because here's the thing. Don't you want
to pay attention to what I'm saying. Don't you want
people to pay attention to what I'm saying in my
skill set? Don't be a distraction in the workplace, all right,
(14:11):
you want people to care about what you're saying.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
Tory Cooper, Tory Cooper. Fit enough.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
But this is the stephen A. Smith Show, So you
know where I'm going. I'm gonna ask this question. I
need specifics. I mean, I'm not talking names. I'm talking
about when you talk about you don't like the stuff
that people.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Wear in the industry. I need examples. The ladies out
there need examples.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Perfect example, crop chops showing your midrift on air. I
don't care to see your belly button. We're not at
the beach, but I see it on air in the
sports world. Okay, that's number one. Number two, clevelandge, your
boobs are out. You're distracting people. The main thing is,
don't be distracting. But it's not just what the lack
(14:59):
of clothing. It's also the choices of clothing too. The
patterns are distracting. I'm seeing people wearing cheet of print,
I'm seeing people wearing pinstripes. I'm seeing people wear all
kinds of stuff that is completely distracting to the viewer.
The point of television that you were supposed to learn
early on is don't be a distraction to the viewer.
Let them pay attention to what you're saying. But too
many times I'm seeing people warn't, you know, inviting in
(15:23):
to be a distraction. It looks like they want to
be a distraction, honestly, and it looks like they want
the attention at times. And what are we here for.
We're here to be professionals, So let's show up that
way so people can focus on your skill and what
you have to say. Otherwise you're inviting the step of
behavior in In my opinion, is.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
There any truth to the notion that people have speculated
about that you have someplace and I can assure you
it's not Disney, I can promise you that, but that
there's some truth to the notion that you may have
certain networks that encourage that directly or indirectly, for females
(16:02):
to feel the need to dress in a certain provocative way.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Have you or have you heard of any.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Ladies in the industry expressing the notion that this is
what their bosses wanted.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
Yes, I've heard that.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
I heard that.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
That's the environment that you're in, and it's especially so
here's the thing. Consultants matter. This is why you're supposed
to have consultants come consult you on your wardrobe, consult
you on your makeup. And if these consultants are continuing
to lean into a cult drobe, oh, yeah, that's the waters. Yeah,
where that right color? Show your you know, yes, they
are contributing to it at the end of the day.
(16:44):
That's what I've heard for sure. But heresay's hearsay.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Right, I guess for me, going back to my original point,
it's not about what you say sometimes, it's about how
you say it.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
So if you've had women all over so.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Social media that were pissed off because Joey Taylor finds
herself in this position and that's what they're oozing, I
understand it. If you have women who were of the opinion,
know this is just an allegation, it's not facts such
as yourself such as me and what have you, And
(17:20):
they said, hey, you know what benefit of the doubt
in a sentintel proven guilty, etc. And by the way,
she's incredibly qualified because we watched her for years and
she knows what she's doing. I understand that what I
have a problem with is the joy no pun intended
females over social media appear to be having in bringing
(17:44):
her credibility in the question, not understanding or not being
sensitive to the plight that ladies have fought for decades
to gain.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
And elevate their level of credibility.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
That's number one and number two of the men who
will remain names because I really don't know. Oh as
much as they deserve it, I just don't want to
give them that kind of attention because the sorry asses
don't deserve it, but are talking in such a way
that they're acting like women don't belong in this industry.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
I can't believe they're getting away with stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
I'm gonna give you the last word on this toury,
go ahead and respond to that.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
There's room for change. Don't be a distraction. The women
on social media who are coming for Joy Taylor, it
looks like it's coming from a place of jealousy. So
that says something about you and the men who want
to act like we don't belong at the table. Look
at our credibility. How about you do some research on
our background. Don't just look at the way I look.
How about you go look into my experience and then
(18:44):
we'll talk about it. But I'll leave a day.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
I got you, Tory, Cooper, appreciate you, Tom, Thank you
so much, Tanks for being on the show with me today.
I'll catch you with you later, right, all right, it's
a good day.
Host
Stephen A. Smith
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