Cris Carter once threatened physical violence against Skip Bayless.
To say he’s not fond of the former Undisputed host would be putting it mildly. Bayless later, in what Carter called “fabricating” their feud, lamented the man he once nearly came to blows with as “studio tough.”
Now Bayless finds himself embroiled in a new controversy — this time, far beyond the confines of the FS1 studio. No longer working at the network, Bayless is a defendant in a lawsuit filed by a former Fox Sports hairdresser. She claims that Bayless offered her $1.5 million for sex. The lawsuit also details other troubling allegations, implicating not only Bayless but also Joy Taylor and Charlie Dixon, the network’s executive vice president of content.
While the lawsuit sent shockwaves throughout the industry, Carter told Kyle Odegard of CasinoApps that he wasn’t surprised.
“I’m not surprised. When you work for these big companies, there are situations that all companies deal with,” Carter said. “I’m not going to say that it was a toxic work environment. It wasn’t that. ESPN has gone through this, FOX has gone through this, CBS has gone through this, NBC has gone through it. All the networks have gone through it. It’s males and females coexisting in the workplace.”
While Carter stopped short of calling Fox — a place he hasn’t worked since 2019 — a “toxic work environment,” even though he had his run-ins with Bayless, he didn’t exactly give his former employer a ringing endorsement either.
Odegard asked him to explain his departure, as he seemingly has no ill will toward the network.
“I wasn’t upset about leaving,” he said. “Not at all.”
Carter, now the executive director of player engagement at Florida Atlantic University, seems to have moved on from the corporate grind. With a continued role under new head coach Zach Kittley and a presence in the podcast space, it’s clear Carter isn’t missing the spotlight of corporate sports media.
