Joy Taylor’s split from Fox Sports was inevitable, former network colleague Cris Carter has claimed.
Earlier this month, Fox Sports reportedly slashed its weekday lineup with a trio of shows axed, including ‘Speak’ which was hosted by Taylor.
The former sports host had worked on a number of different shows in her nine-year stint with Fox, yet the company has decided not to renew her expiring contract this summer – just months after she found herself embroiled in a bombshell sex lawsuit.
The network shortly announced a new deal with Barstool Sports and founder Dave Portnoy, while Kay Adams was rumored to be a leading contender to fill the void left at Fox.
And Carter suggested that FS1 had already made the decision months ago to oust Taylor from her hosting duties.
The podcast host believed the network had reached the decision to move on in the aftermath of the lawsuit brought by former FS1 hairstylist Noushin Faraji, who listed Taylor as a defendant as well as top programming executive Charlie Dixon and Skip Bayless.
‘Fox had no choice but to fire her,’ Carter recently claimed on his podcast, ‘Fully Loaded’. ‘Anytime you have those rumors as far as someone as far as talent that has a relationship with an executive, which they were rumored to, her and Charlie Dixon who created all those shows. So, in their investigation, they gave Charlie time off, then eventually, they end up firing Charlie, which in turn, they tell you there’s some fire there in the woodpile.
‘And they’re in a situation with Joy, with the lawsuit they really can’t do anything with her on the air until her contract runs out. Then they either give you a s****y offer or they give you no offer. You’re out. And they had to burn down everything that Charlie had created.’
Taylor was accused of using sexual relationships with colleagues, including Dixon and former co-host Emmanuel Acho, to further her career in the lawsuit filed by the ex-employee.
The 38-year-old was also alleged to have told Faraji to ‘get over it’ when she confided in her about claims she was sexually assaulted by Dixon.
Taylor has denied all allegations.
In addition to ‘Speak,’ Fox has reportedly decided to cancel two of its morning programs, ‘Breakfast Ball’ and ‘The Facility’.
All three shows, which were overseen by Dixon, are said to have struggled to find a huge audience, bring them to an abrupt end.
Fox fired Dixon in April, while Acho was a casualty of the recent axing with his show, ‘The Facility’, which only debuted last September, also slashed.
However, Carter believes that the network had no choice but to axe the slate of shows due to their connection to the lawsuit.
‘They had to tear all those shows down,’ Carter continued of FS1 cutting three shows from their lineup. ‘Because of not only the rumors, but the stuff they found out in the investigation. That thing was ugly…Had to happen.’
Carter had his own unceremonious exit from the network in 2019 following two years of co-hosting ‘First Things First’ alongside Nick Wright.
The split came after the Hall-of-Fame wide receiver was upset he hadn’t been offered a role on Fox’s ‘Thursday Night Football.’
The former Minnesota Vikings star has since gone on to host his own podcast and believed Taylor will also have plenty of opportunities to bounce back.
‘She has a wealth of information, a wealth of experience and she can talk the game,’ Carter said of Taylor. ‘And she got a good rolodex.’
