Thursday marked four days since Joy Taylor was reportedly sidelined by Fox Sports, raising questions about her sudden absence.
According to Front Office Sports’ Ryan Glasspiegel, Taylor isn’t on an extended post-Super Bowl break. Instead, the sports media insider reported Wednesday that she has been “sidelined” from FS1’s Speak, which she has not hosted at all this week. The reason for her removal remains unclear, and a Fox spokesperson declined to comment when reached by FOS.
Taylor’s absence comes just over a month after she was named as a defendant in a workplace misconduct lawsuit filed by former Fox Sports hairstylist Noushin Faraji. The lawsuit accuses Taylor of mocking Faraji, who is Persian, over her ethnicity and engaging in sexual relationships with Fox Sports executive Charlie Dixon and co-host Emmanuel Acho to advance her career.
Despite the allegations, Taylor remained on-air for FS1 in the weeks following the lawsuit’s filing. She was also prominently featured in Fox’s Super Bowl LIX coverage from New Orleans earlier this month.
And while the network is staying silent, Paul Pierce is not.
Never one to hold back — one of the reasons he’s no longer on ESPN — the former Boston Celtics star seemingly weighed in on Taylor’s situation in a video posted to social media.
“Alright, let’s get it today,” Pierce said in the 13-second clip. “Speak, got the crew up here.”
Someone in the background audibly chimed in: “Can’t keep doing this under these conditions,” which, obviously, could mean anything. But given Taylor’s sudden absence, the timing makes the connection hard to ignore, especially when you weigh that with Pierce’s response.
“The conditions is harsh, though. Aye, man,” added Pierce. “Damn.”
Damn, indeed.
But what conditions? That’s the question no one at Fox seems willing to answer.
And until they do, the speculation — and perhaps Pierce’s cryptic videos — will only grow.
Was this a quiet benching in response to the lawsuit, or is there something else at play?
Fox might be staying tight-lipped, but the longer Taylor remains off the air, the louder the questions — and possibly Pierce— will get.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.