The alleged romantic relationship between FS1 hosts Joy Taylor and Emmanuel Acho didn’t come as a surprise to Marcellus Wiley. But the alleged relationship between Taylor and Fox Sports executive Charlie Dixon? That one connected some dots.
Dixon, Taylor and Skip Bayless were named as defendants in a bombshell workplace misconduct lawsuit filed by former Fox Sports hairstylist Noushin Faraji, alleging sexual battery and a toxic work environment. According to the lawsuit, which was first reported on by Front Office Sports, Taylor allegedly had sexual relationships with Acho and Dixon with sights on advancing at the network. Wiley, who previously worked at FS1 and co-hosted a show with Acho, addressed the allegations on the latest episode of his podcast.
“I never heard that Charlie Dixon and Joy Taylor were sleeping together,” Wiley admitted. “But, upon hearing that, I’m not gonna lie to y’all. It makes a lot of things make sense. It unlocks a lot for me. Sleeping with Emmanuel Acho? I’ve heard that before. Multiple times, as recent as a week or two ago. Part of the reason it was suggested that they do a show together is because of these allegations in the lawsuit that they were sleeping together, conspiring to get that to go. Conspiring with Charlie, conspiring with Emmanuel Acho, ‘let’s make this work.’ What is crazier is, how they split apart… why did they go on different shows they say? Relationship went sour.”
Wiley modestly mentioned the allegations nearly two weeks ago, stating he heard a rumor about recent lineup changes at FS1 being motivated by romance. Less than two weeks later, those rumors were given credence. Taylor previously co-hosted Speak on FS1 with Acho and LeSean McCoy. But last August, Acho and McCoy departed the show to join Chase Daniel and James Jones in filling the morning void left by Skip Bayless. Taylor was then joined by Keyshawn Johnson and Paul Pierce on Speak, who were previously working with Bayless on Undisputed.
Wiley co-hosted Speak For Yourself on FS1 from 2018-2022, first with Jason Whitlock and then with Acho. In the fall of 2022, the show was rebranded as Speak and Wiley was replaced by Taylor and LeSean McCoy.
“Unlocking the piece of Charlie,” Wiley continued. “If true, I’m looking at my history and I’m looking at the history of a lot of other talents on that network a lot differently. A lot differently in a really bad way… imagine if Charlie is allegedly sleeping with Joy Taylor and Emmanuel Acho and there’s somebody who’s not sleeping with Joy Taylor.
“Let’s just use me, because I’ve known Joy Taylor since she was born, basically… before this lawsuit, I couldn’t make sense of nonsense. But that part right there, the allegation of Joy Taylor sleeping with Charlie Dixon and Emmanuel Acho, versus an example like mine, unlocks a lot.”
Wiley went on to surmise this is going to get worse for FS1, stating there were a lot of things in the lawsuit he didn’t know about, but there were also details in there that he knew to be factual. But according to Wiley, learning that this scandal was more than just a talent romance and may have started at the top, is a precursor to this scandal getting uglier.
In the wake of this lawsuit, Fox told Front Office Sports: “We take these allegations seriously and have no further comment at this time given this pending litigation.”
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com