Fox Sports is making some changes.
Joy Taylor Gone
In January, two former Fox Sports employees filed lawsuits against the network, depicting the workplace as a breeding ground for misogyny where quid pro quo sexual favors were almost expected.
Noushin Faraji was a hairdresser at FS1, where she claims the top executive of the company, Charles Dixon, groped her, and the highest-paid on-air talent, Skip Bayless, offered her $1.5 million to have sex with him and his tiny wee wee.
But tucked away in Faraji’s lawsuit was some pretty revealing Joy Taylor info.
Noushin, an Iranian woman, claimed Joy was racist against her.
But what made the national headlines was Faraji’s claim that Joy Taylor had simultaneous affairs with both exec Charles Dixon, as well as on-air co-host Emmanuel Acho.
The second lawsuit was from on-air talent Julie Stewart-Binks, who claimed Charles Dixon sexually assaulted her and then let her contract expire without re-upping.
The lawsuits essentially claim that Joy Taylor, unlike her predecessor Julie or hairdresser Noushin, used sex to advance in the company instead of fighting against what very much sounds like a work environment run by horny men who expected women to just bend over for them whenever they wanted.
And I can’t even blame Joy Taylor for potentially allowing these men to use her body for her to maintain those TV paychecks.
I mean, just think of all her interesting, thought-provoking takes.
All of her clever, nuanced analysis.
It’s tough to come up with any.
If I were as talentless and ordinary as her, I, too, might be down to offer up the cheeks for a seat at the table.
Now, it’s important to recognize that the sports media industry is hell for women.
It’s a male-dominated culture where sexualizing women is the baseline for entry.
I’m not sure that means posting selfies in a skin-tight dress before you go on air every day and inviting that type of attention is a solution to anything.
It’d be like having a school bully take your lunch money every day and deciding to change from a zipper wallet, to velcro, so it’s easier for the bullies to take it from you.
Allowing executives to treat you like expensive fleshlights for the sake of holding down a TV spot that you use to add nothing new or unique or smart, isn’t just ‘being a woman in sports‘ as Joy says in a lot of interviews.
There are tons of creative, intelligent women writing and podcasting about sports who will never see a fraction of the attention and money Joy Taylor has received.
Joy Taylor wants to be a champion for women without recognizing that her actions make it harder for all women after her.
She doesn’t give a shit about “women in sports”.
She gives a shit about Joy Taylor being employed and airing on TV screens above treadmills and in empty bars.
When I asked her about the comments Whitlock had made, I cleaned them up a bit: What did she think about his claim that she only got her job because she’s a beautiful woman? And how did she feel about him saying that he wasn’t trying to “disparage” her?
She raised her eyebrows, amused, and this time she seemed eager to say at least part of what she really thought. “Oh, I mean, I don’t think being called a beautiful woman is disparaging,” she said slyly. “I think I’m a beautiful woman.”
I agreed. “But he was saying that was the only reason you were there.”
She leaned back, teacup in hand. “Well, I think that if I am so beautiful that my beauty negates my need for any skill or talent or education or résumé or results,” she said, taking a sip, “I must be pretty fucking beautiful.”
…what?
The fuck are you talking about?
This is a 38-year-old woman completely void of self-awareness.
And now she’s fired.
Joy Taylor truly believed she was special.
She believed she was such a net positive for the network—who was so skilled and talented AND beautiful—she was so heads and shoulders above her peers—that she would be here forever.
And Fox Sports reminded her she’s not fucking special.
Emmanuel Acho Gone
One day, suddenly out of nowhere, former 6th-round draft pick, Emmanuel Acho, became a media darling.
After 4 years in the NFL—primarily just on practice squads, barely clinging to roster spots—Acho just became the go-to sports analyst to address race issues.
Following the 2020 murder of George Floyd, Acho capitalized on the situation to create a web series titled “Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man“, where he essentially pats white people on the head and says, “It’s okay. I don’t think you’re racist. It’s totally fine with me”.
He also wrote a shitty book to go with it.
He’s explained his weird niche by basically saying that, thanks to being Nigerian instead of African American, he has a different perspective on the black experience in America and can talk about these issues with white people without bringing any hostility to the conversations.
Acho loved believing he was “one of the good blacks”.
Not the “hostile” ones that always complain about racism—but the one who can ease white people’s guilt.
Once he realized he could market himself as the “safe black guy”, he took any and all opportunities to shit on other black people.
Like after American sprinter, Sha’Carri Richardson was caught with weed in her system before the Olympics.
Emmanuel Acho rushed to throw more dirt on her by saying she could’ve hurt someone by being high and throwing a javelin, even though Sha’Carri is just a sprinter and doesn’t… throw…javelins.
Would it shock you to hear he’s an Angel Reese hater?
Following LSU’s loss in Reese’s final year in college, Angel broke down after the game after being attacked by racists all season.
Here’s what Mr. “Let’s solve racism with kindness” said about hearing a young black woman cry about racist attacks:
“I’m about to give a gender-neutral, racially indifferent take,” he began. “Angel Reese, you can’t be the big bad wolf but then kind of cry like Courage the Cowardly Dog, because if you want to act grown, which she has, if you want to get paid like you grown, which you are, if you want to talk to grown folks like you’re grown, which you did post-game when you told a coach from an opposing team, ‘Watch yo mouth.’ If you want to tell people to ‘Get your money up,’ then post-game win you take a L, you just gotta take it on the chin. Nobody mourns when the villain catches an L.”
Emmanuel has all the patience and sympathy and understanding for white people in this country but when a young black woman in the crosshairs of blatant racism dares cry about the effects it has on her mental health, Acho spoke about her like she was just some whiny bitch who couldn’t handle literal death threats against her.
Like Joy Taylor, Emmanuel Acho doesn’t have the gift of gab.
He is not an expert, breaking down NFL game film.
He is not some witty observationist capable of identifying unique, underserved parts of major news stories.
He grew up with white people telling him how special he is because he’s articulate and has a college freshman’s understanding of the world around him.
Like Joy Taylor, Acho is just an opportunist who uses his black skin to say out loud all the racist shit his white peers can’t.
Both Joy Taylor and Emmanuel Acho are self-centered social climbers who hide behind their gender or race to pretend as if they are champions for people who look like them while, behind the scenes (or in Acho’s case, live on television) throwing those same people under the bus to make sure that bus always makes its way to the bank, cashing their checks on the 15th and 30th of every month.
They aren’t special.
And now, they’re about to be replaced by true mediocrity.
Enter Barstool
Fox Sports is officially in business with Barstool Sports, which has built a solid fanbase for its brash brand of commentary, and company founder Dave Portnoy.
Fox Sports on Thursday announced a “wide-ranging collaboration” with Barstool. As part of the deal, Portnoy will become a regular contributor to Fox Sports’ “Big Noon Kickoff” college football gameday shows on Saturdays starting this fall. “Big Noon Kickoff” also will feature appearances from a variety of Barstool personalities including Dan “Big Cat” Katz. (Variety)
A black man and a black woman just lost their spots to Dave Portnoy—a white man who has an absurdly long compilation video of him saying the n-word for no reason.
Joy Taylor thought she could wear low-cut dresses and Emmanuel Acho thought he could say what white people wanted to hear and they’d be rich forever.
At a certain point, they convinced themselves they were so special and valuable to the network that they didn’t even have to produce an entertaining TV show.
Shit, these two thought the money train would never end, so they started banging each other and execs. They didn’t give a fuck.
And now they’re being replaced by the whitest media company in the world.
Truly.
I was at their New York office not too many years ago.
It was a sea of pale faces all poking their heads above their laptops, making sure I didn’t steal anything.
And Barstool has a swarm of white fans who will run their numbers up, making Fox look at the results and say to themselves, “See, viewers want more white people on TV”.
Joy Taylor and Emmanuel Acho, these two fucking losers, inadvertently set back black journalists and analysts—set back women in the sports industry—because these two dickheads thought they were special.
Here comes a flock of racists and misogynists to support their parasocial besties and who knows if Fox Sports will even invest in black on-air talent again.
For the gooners who still love Joy Taylor, check out her super interesting podcast where she talks about how much money a man should spend on her on first dates.
You can find Emmanuel Acho at your local bookstore, pretending to really examine the covers of books we were required to read in high school—hoping someone notices him and calls him smart and different than all the other blacks.
Thanks for reading.
Let me know if you can’t wait for the new Fox Sports Barstool collab so I can ask how you even found this website, leave a comment below. Respond on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. Or shoot me an email at Deadseriousmailbag@gmail.com. Let’s chat, bay-beeeee.
