James Mangold is taking the phrase, A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, quite literally. Mangolds Star Wars: Dawn of the JediMangold, who will direct Dawn of the Jedi, is excited to tell a new story with his co-writer, Beau Willimon.Recommended VideosTo me, the really important aspects are the freedom to make something new, Mangold told MovieWeb in a recent interview. Beau and I, in relation to Star Wars, have been working on a script, and well see what happens.Please enable Javascript to view this contentMany of the recent Star Wars movies ran into problems incorporating legacy characters and franchise mythology. Mangold wants to rely on Star Wars lore as little as possible in his prequel set in the distant past.The Star Wars movie would be taking place 25,000 years before any known Star Wars movies take place, Mangold said. Its an area and a playground that Ive always [wanted to explore] and that I was inspired by as a teenager. Im not that interested in being handcuffed by so much lore at this point that its almost immovable, and you cant please anybody.Dark Horse ComicsLucasfilm first announced MangoldsDawn of the Jedi at 2023s Star Wars Celebration Europe IV. Two other films revealed at the celebration were a Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy-directed feature starring Daisy Ridleys Rey Skywalker and a movie from Lucasfilms Chief Creative Officer Dave Filoni. All three films are undated. The Rey Skywalker film was slated for December 2026, but Disney removed it from its release calendar and replaced it with Ice Age 6.The next Star Wars movie will be Jon Favreaus The Mandalorian & Grogu, in theaters on May 22, 2026.Editors Recommendations

Queen Teuta of Illyria held an audience with two Roman ambassadors. When one of them disrespected her, she had the envoy killed.

At an 18th-century inn on the Garden States western edge, the exemplary Jack Rose cocktail is well worth the trip. Until you can getthere, this recipe brings the drinks bright apple flavor home.

Google privacy lawsuit Google loses in court, faces trial for collecting data on users who opted out Judge: Reasonable juror may find Google profited from misappropriation of data. Jon Brodkin Jan 9, 2025 3:06 pm | 4 Credit: Getty Images | Josh Edelson Credit: Getty Images | Josh Edelson Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreA federal judge this week rejected Google's motion to throw out a class-action lawsuit alleging that it invaded the privacy of users who opted out of functionality that records a users' web and app activities. A jury trial is scheduled for August 2025 in US District Court in San Francisco.The lawsuit concerns Google's Web & App Activity (WAA) settings, with the lead plaintiff representing two subclasses of people with Android and non-Android phones who opted out of tracking. "The WAA button is a Google account setting that purports to give users privacy control of Google's data logging of the user's web app and activity, such as a user's searches and activity from other Google services, information associated with the user's activity, and information about the user's location and device," wrote US District Judge Richard Seeborg, the chief judge in the Northern District Of California.Google says that Web & App Activity "saves your activity on Google sites and apps, including associated info like location, to give you faster searches, better recommendations, and more personalized experiences in Maps, Search, and other Google services." Google also has a supplemental Web App and Activity setting that the judge's ruling refers to as "(s)WAA.""The (s)WAA button, which can only be switched on if WAA is also switched on, governs information regarding a user's '[Google] Chrome history and activity from sites, apps, and devices that use Google services.' Disabling WAA also disables the (s)WAA button," Seeborg wrote.Google sends data to developersBut data is still sent to third-party app developers through the Google Analytics for Firebase (GA4F), "a free analytical tool that takes user data from the Firebase kit and provides app developers with insight on app usage and user engagement," the ruling said. GA4F "is integrated in 60 percent of the top apps" and "works by automatically sending to Google a user's ad interactions and certain identifiers regardless of a user's (s)WAA settings, and Google will, in turn, provide analysis of that data back to the app developer."Plaintiffs have brought claims of privacy invasion under California law. Plaintiffs "present evidence that their data has economic value," and "a reasonable juror could find that Plaintiffs suffered damage or loss because Google profited from the misappropriation of their data," Seeborg wrote.The lawsuit was filed in July 2020. The judge notes that summary judgment can be granted when "there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Google hasn't met that standard, he ruled.In a statement provided to Ars, Google said that "privacy controls have long been built into our service and the allegations here are a deliberate attempt to mischaracterize the way our products work. We will continue to make our case in court against these patently false claims."In a proposed settlement of a different lawsuit, Google last year agreed to delete records reflecting users' private browsing activities in Chrome's Incognito mode.Google disclosures are ambiguous, judge saysGoogle claimed that the "undisputed facts" show its collection of "data was lawful and consistent with its representations to class members," Seeborg wrote. But in the judge's view, the "various interpretations of these disclosures render them ambiguous such that a reasonable user would expect the WAA and (s)WAA settings to control Google's collection of a user's web app and activity on products using Google's services."Google contends that its system is harmless to users. "Google argues that its sole purpose for collecting (s)WAA-off data is to provide these analytic services to app developers. This data, per Google, consists only of non-personally identifiable information and is unrelated (or, at least, not directly related) to any profit-making objectives," Seeborg wrote.On the other side, plaintiffs say that Google's tracking contradicts its "representations to users because it gathers exactly the data Google denies saving and collecting about (s)WAA-off users," Seeborg wrote. "Moreover, Plaintiffs insist that Google's practices allow it to personalize ads by linking user ad interactions to any later related behaviorinformation advertisers are likely to find valuableleading to Google's lucrative advertising enterprise built, in part, on (s)WAA-off data unlawfully retrieved."Plaintiffs contend that "Google should be disgorged of all its profits derived from serving any ads to (s)WAA-off users. Google "denies that any (s)WAA-off data is saved to a user's marketing profile, which precludes it from personalizing advertising to a WAA-off users." Google says the data is "intended to be shared with only developers through GA4F for their own analysis."Jury can evaluate Googles pseudonymous claimsGoogle, as the judge writes, purports to treat user data as pseudonymous by creating a randomly generated identifier that "permits Google to recognize the particular device and its later ad-related behavior... Google insists that it has created technical barriers to ensure, for (s)WAA-off users, that pseudonymous data is delinked to a user's identity by first performing a 'consent check' to determine a user's (s)WAA settings."Whether this counts as personal information under the law is a question for a jury, the judge wrote. Seeborg pointed to California law that defines personal information to include data that "is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular consumer or household." Given the legal definition, "a reasonable juror could view the (s)WAA-off data Google collected via GA4F, including a user's unique device identifiers, as comprising a user's personal information," he wrote.As Seeborg wrote, "Google insists that users knew and consented to its tracking practices," specifically the collection of pseudonymous data. Seeborg rejected this claim. To a reasonable user reading Google's disclosures, "it is unclear Plaintiffs were consenting to the data collection at issue," he wrote.Another argument from Google is that plaintiffs have no reasonable expectation of privacy in anonymized, aggregate data. But information doesn't have to be personally identifying in order to be private, and "whether the data collected by Google constitutes personal information is not, as Google suggests, a foregone conclusion," Seeborg wrote.Jon BrodkinSenior IT ReporterJon BrodkinSenior IT Reporter Jon is a Senior IT Reporter for Ars Technica. He covers the telecom industry, Federal Communications Commission rulemakings, broadband consumer affairs, court cases, and government regulation of the tech industry. 4 Comments

At a crosswords Why solving crosswords is like a phase transition German physicist and crossword fan realized the solving process resembled a type of "percolation problem." Jennifer Ouellette Jan 9, 2025 2:55 pm | 4 Finalists competing in a crossword competition in New York City's Bryant Park in 2019 Credit: Rhododendrites/CC BY-SA 4.0 Finalists competing in a crossword competition in New York City's Bryant Park in 2019 Credit: Rhododendrites/CC BY-SA 4.0 Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreMost crossword puzzle fans have experienced that moment where, after a period of struggle on a particularly difficult puzzle, everything suddenly starts to come together, and they are able to fill in a bunch of squares correctly. Alexander Hartmann, a statistical physicist at the University of Oldenburg in Germany, had an intriguing insight when this happened while he was trying to solve a puzzle one day. According to his paper published in the journal Physical Review E, the crossword puzzle-solving process resembles a type of phase transition known as percolationone that seems to be unique compared to standard percolation models.Traditional mathematical models of percolation date back to the 1940s. Directed percolation is when the flow occurs in a specific direction, akin to how water moves through freshly ground coffee beans, flowing down in the direction of gravity. (In physical systems, percolation is one of the primary mechanisms behind the Brazil nut effect, along with convection.) Such models can also be applicable to a wide range of large networked systems: power grids, financial markets, and social networks, for example.Individual nodes in a random network start linking together, one by one, via short-range connections, until the number of connections reaches a critical threshold (tipping point). At that point, there is a phase shift in which the largest cluster of nodes grows rapidly, giving rise to more long-range connections, resulting in uber-connectivity. The likelihood of two clusters merging is proportional to their size, and once a large cluster forms, it dominates the networked system, absorbing smaller clusters.There's also the more recent concept of "explosive percolation," whereby connectivity emerges not in a slow, continuous process but quite suddenly, simply by replacing the random node connections with predetermined criteriasay, choosing to connect whichever pair of nodes has the fewest pre-existing connections to other nodes. This introduces bias into the system and suppresses the growth of large dominant clusters. Instead, many large unconnected clusters grow until the critical threshold is reached. At that point, even adding just one or two more connections will trigger one global violent merger (instant uber-connectivity).Puzzling over percolationOne might not immediately think of crossword puzzles as a network, although there have been a couple of relevant prior mathematical studies. For instance, John McSweeney of the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Indiana employed a random graph network model for crossword puzzles in 2016. He factored in how a puzzle's solvability is affected by the interactions between the structure of the puzzle's cells (squares) and word difficulty, i.e., the fraction of letters you need to know in a given word in order to figure out what it is.Answers represented nodes while answer crossings represented edges, and McSweeney assigned a random distribution of word difficulty levels to the clues. "This randomness in the clue difficulties is ultimately responsible for the wide variability in the solvability of a puzzle, which many solvers know wella solver, presented with two puzzles of ostensibly equal difficulty, may solve one readily and be stumped by the other," he wrote at the time. At some point, there has to be a phase transition, in which solving the easiest words enables the puzzler to solve the more difficult words until the critical threshold is reached and the puzzler can fill in many solutions in rapid successiona dynamic process that resembles, say, the spread of diseases in social groups. In this sample realization, black sites are shown in black; empty sites are white; and occupied sites contain symbols and letters. Credit: Alexander K. Hartmann, 2024 Hartmann's new model incorporates elements of several nonstandard percolation models, including how much the solver benefits from partial knowledge of the answers. Letters correspond to sites (white squares) while words are segments of those sites, bordered by black squares. There is an a priori probability of being able to solve a given word if no letters are known. If some words are solved, the puzzler gains partial knowledge of neighboring unsolved words, which increases the probability of those words being solved as well.In other words, the probabilities don't start out with long-range correlations, but those probabilities change as easier words get filled in, leading to an acceleration in filling out neighboring words.If youre a solver that is often frustrated and feel like youre not making any progress, this idea of a phase transition can give you a boost of confidence, McSweeney told New Scientist. You might be a lot closer than you realize to solving the whole thing, as long as you can just get a little bit better and jump over that phase transition point.The next step will be to take a closer look at what's happening as the puzzler approaches the critical threshold. Hartmann wonders if the acceleration in filling in correct squares might behave like physical avalanche systems, such as the grains of sand in a sand pile or hourglass. It's a type of spontaneous phase transition also known as self-organized criticality. The sand pile grows, grain by grain, piling up in the shape of a cone. This makes the pile increasingly unstable until adding just a few more grains causes the pile to collapse in an avalanche, forming a wider stable base as the whole process begins again. And smaller avalanches happen more often than larger ones (a power law).Physicists have applied the notion of self-organized criticality to earthquakes, financial markets, traffic jams, biological evolution, how galaxies are distributed in the universe, and even the brain. We'll have to wait and see whether Hartmann's instinct is correct that it might also describe the process of solving a crossword puzzle.Physical Review E, 2025. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.110.064138 (About DOIs).Jennifer OuelletteSenior WriterJennifer OuelletteSenior Writer Jennifer is a senior reporter at Ars Technica with a particular focus on where science meets culture, covering everything from physics and related interdisciplinary topics to her favorite films and TV series. Jennifer lives in Baltimore with her spouse, physicist Sean M. Carroll, and their two cats, Ariel and Caliban. 4 Comments

GunaiKurnai Elder Uncle Russell Mullett on the balcony of Cloggs CaveJessica ShapiroA recent discovery in Cloggs cave, Australia, revealed something extraordinary about humanitys relationship with time. Several metres into the limestone grotto, archaeologists working with the Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation found telltale signs of an ancient ritual: two ceremonial sticks covered in animal fat and highly specific burn marks. Here is the amazing part. The sticks were 12,000 years old, and they were almost identical to ones used for rituals in the late 19th century by local mulla-mullung, or sorcerers.That means the GunaiKurnai people

Starbucks is hosting a three-hour meeting for store employees later this month.The meeting will focus on ways that employees can make Starbucks "a welcoming coffeehouse" again.Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol is trying to turn around results at the coffee chain.Starbucks store employees in the US will have to attend a three-hour training session later this month, Business Insider has learned, as the coffee chain's new CEO attempts to revitalize it.Starbucks' role as a place for customers to hang out is expected to be a key topic at the meeting, according to a description from Starbucks' intranet seen by BI."We will be talking about an opportunity to refocus on what has always set Starbucks apart a welcoming coffeehouse where people gather and we serve the finest coffee, handcrafted by skilled baristas," the description reads.The meetings will take place at different times at different stores, four store employees told BI. They'll happen between January 21 and 26 and will be entitled "Welcome Back to Starbucks," according to one sign posted at a store and seen by BI.Store employees, whom Starbucks calls "partners," have to attend the meeting, even if that means going to another store's version because it fits their schedule better, two partners said. In some cases, partners will fill in shifts at other stores so that employees there can be present, one partner said.Starbucks did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.Starbucks is in the midst of a turnaround effort after reporting slumping sales in recent quarters.Brian Niccol, who oversaw major changes at Mexican grill chain Chipotle, became Starbucks' CEO in September. Since then, he's unveiled several changes, from the reintroduction of self-service condiment bars to instituting a goal of four minutes or less for preparing customers' orders.Niccol has also said that he wants Starbucks stores to be "inviting places to linger" while also serving customers who want quick to-go service.One partner at a Starbucks store in Florida told BI that he hopes Starbucks will unveil more changes to streamline workflow at his store during the meeting.He pointed to some adjustments that Starbucks has already made under Niccol's leadership, such as instructing baristas to prepare some drinks with a blender instead of shaking them a small change that saves each barista valuable seconds when filling orders."I would love to see a continuation of that," he said.Do you work at Starbucks and have a story idea to share? Reach out to this reporter at abitter@businessinsider.com.

2025-01-09T20:20:17Z Read in app Angle down iconAn icon in the shape of an angle pointing down. A brush fire burns near homes in Pacific Palisades, California on January 7, 2025. DAVID SWANSON/AFP/Getty Images This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.Have an account? At least five separate wildfires are ravaging Los Angeles and Southern California.The Palisades Fire alone has burned through over 17,000 acres of land in two days.For context, the entire island of Manhattan is 14,600 acres.A series of wildfires have battered Los Angeles and other surrounding areas of Southern California since Tuesday, killing at least five people, burning through tends of thousands of acres of land, and destroying at least 1,000 structures.The damage so far is estimated to be in the tens of billions of dollars.When natural disasters strike, numbers like these that reach the thousands, millions, and even billions can become difficult to comprehend.To put the wildfire destruction in California into perspective, here are seven statistics to help understand the damage they have inflicted. The Palisades Fire alone has burned through 17,000 acres. That's larger than the entire island of Manhattan.A home burns during the Palisades Fire on January 8, 2025. AGUSTIN PAULLIER/AFP/Getty Images That makes the fire, which started on Tuesday morning, the most destructive fire in Los Angeles' history, according to multiple reports.The island of Manhattan in New York is roughly 15,000 acres.In total, more than 26,978 acres had been burned as of 1:45 a.m. Thursday, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection reported. Officials ordered 130,000 to evacuate, a number that's greater than the population of Kansas' capital city.A resident rides through smoke from a brush fire pushed by gusting Santa Ana winds on January 7, 2025, in Pacific Palisades. VCG/VCG/Getty Images That number is more than the population of Topeka, the capital of Kansas, which has a population of 125,457, according to 2023 population estimates by the US Census.Los Angeles' total population is just under 4 million people. That means around 3% of the city's population has been displaced. More than 420,000 people are estimated to be without power. That's roughly the population of Minneapolis, the largest city in Minnesota.A home burns during the Eaton fire in the Altadena area of Los Angeles County, California on January 8, 2025. JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images The number comes from PowerOutage.us, which has been tracking power outages across California. One estimate puts damage and economic losses at $52 to $57 billion, making it one of the costliest natural disasters in US history.The sun is seen behind smoke above charred structures after the passage of the Palisades Fire on January 8, 2025. AGUSTIN PAULLIER/AFP/Getty Images That preliminary estimate, from forecasting service Accuweather, could increase if the fires spread to further areas.For comparison, the total GDP of the country of Libya is $48 billion, according to the IMF.If this was a hurricane, that'd make it the 10th-costliest storm in history, right below 2012's Hurricane Sandy. More than 7,500 LA firefighters have been deployed, but that's still not enough.Firefighters battle the Eaton Fire in strong winds as many homes burn on January 7, 2025, in Pasadena, California David McNew/Getty Images Governor Gavin Newsom is sending in the state's National Guard, and more firefighters are coming from Nothern California. The Los Angeles Times reported Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone requested aid from fire departments in Oregon, New Mexico, Washington, and Utah. Wind gusts have reached 90 mph. That's equivalent to a Category 1 hurricane.Workers attempt to remove a tree that fell on a car due to high winds in Glendale on January 8, 2025. ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images The powerful winds contributed to the quick spread of the fires and hampered firefighting efforts.For comparison, Category 1 hurricanes have wind speeds of between 74 and 95 mph, and they can do a lot of damage. Hurricane Florence was a Category 1 storm when it made landfall in North Carolina in September 2018, and was one of the costliest hurricanes in history. Universal Studios was forced to close for the first time since COVID-19 in 2020.The entrance of Universal Studios in Hollywood. GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images Universal Studios said in a statement it closed its gates on Wednesday "out of an abundance of caution" due to the high winds and fires, closing for the first time since the park shut down in March 2020, per People. It remained closed on Thursday.Disneyland, located in Anaheim, has been able to remain open. CaliforniaLos AngelesClose iconTwo crossed lines that form an 'X'. It indicates a way to close an interaction, or dismiss a notification.

The Griffith Observatory offers free public telescopes and sweeping views of downtown Los Angeles.The Griffith Observatory. dszc/Getty Images The structure, which spans 67,000 square feet, includes a planetarium, observatory, and exhibits about the cosmos.The observatory's telescopes were rendered useless due to thick clouds of smoke.Smoke from wildfires in the sky over Griffith Observatory. Andy Bao/AP The Griffith Observatory wrote on Instagram on Wednesday that it will be closed until further notice due to the current weather and fire conditions. The Hollywood sign, visible from the Griffith Observatory, is the most famous landmark in Los Angeles.The Hollywood Sign. AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images The Hollywood sign has been featured in countless TV shows and movies over the years as the most iconic location in the city. As fires blazed across the city, the normally blue skies turned gray with smoke and ash.The Hollywood sign was surrounded by smoke from the Los Angeles wildfires. AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images As of Thursday, the sign was not located in an evacuation warning area, but the site is closed due to damage from surrounding fires.After false images of the sign burning began to circulate on social media, the Hollywood Sign clarified in a Facebook post that it "continues to stand tall!" Sunset Boulevard boasts luxury shops, restaurants, and nightlife.Sunset Boulevard. ANDREY DENISYUK/Getty Images The famous 1.7-mile-long Sunset Strip along Sunset Boulevard is located between Hollywood and West Hollywood.Part of Sunset Boulevard has been hit hard by the wildfires.Sunset Boulevard damaged by wildfires. Bellocqimages/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images Part of Sunset Boulevard, which spans 25 miles, is located in Pacific Palisades. The Palisades fire caused heavy damage, and many buildings along the famous street have burned down. The Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena is home to the UCLA Bruins college football team.Rose Bowl Stadium. Kirby Lee/Getty Images The stadium also hosts its namesake Rose Bowl Game annually on New Year's Day.Aerial views of The Rose Bowl were obscured by smoke.The Rose Bowl covered in smoke from wildfires. PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images Some sports games have been postponed due to the wildfires. On Wednesday, the National Hockey League delayed a match between the Los Angeles Kings and Calgary Flames that was supposed to take place at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The Getty Center, a giant museum complex in the Santa Monica Mountains, spans 110 acres.An aerial view of the Getty Center in Brentwood, California. Michael Rosebrock/Shutterstock Designed by architect Richard Meier, the Getty Center houses collections of paintings, manuscripts, photography, and sculptures from Europe and the US.The effects of the wildfires could be seen in the distance behind the museum on Wednesday at sunset.Fire and smoke behind the Getty Center. PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images Clouds of smoke billowed around the complex, but the museum was undamaged. The Getty Villa, situated on a 64-acre estate, houses Greek and Roman antiquities.The Getty Villa. Arellano915/Shutterstock The Getty Villa, built by J. Paul Getty, is located about 11 miles from the Getty Museum. Wildfires scorched the grounds of the Getty Villa, but the building itself remains safe.Buildings and trees around the Getty Villa went up in flames. David Swanson / Contributor / Getty Images Katherine E. Fleming, president and chief executive of the J. Paul Getty Trust, said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times that the organization "had made extensive efforts to clear brush from the surrounding area as part of its fire mitigation efforts throughout the year.""Some trees and vegetation on-site have burned, but staff and the collection remain safe," she said. Located near the Getty Villa, the Kauffman Estate has appeared in music videos such as "Paparazzi" by Lady Gaga and "Haunted" by Beyonc.The Villa de Leon, known as the Kauffman Estate, is seen in Malibu, California. GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images Also known as the Villa de Leon, the French Revival estate was built in Malibu in 1927 for wool merchant Leon Kauffman. The 12,000-square-foot mansion was barely visible in the orange sky.The Kauffman Estate was threatened by the flames of the wind-driven Palisades Fire. DAVID SWANSON/AFP via Getty Images Winds of up to 90 miles per hour made the California wildfires difficult to control.The Kauffman Estate, now a private residence, appeared to still be standing as of Tuesday evening, but the extent of the damage is unclear. Will Rogers State Historic Park in the Santa Monica Mountains was once the luxury residence of one of the highest-paid actors of the 1930s.The old horse barn at Will Rogers State Historic Park. trekandshoot/Shutterstock In the 1920s, Rogers built a ranch on the 359 acres of land he owned featuring a 31-room house, stables, and a golf course. His widow donated it to the California State Parks system in 1944.The Palisades Fire destroyed "multiple structures" including Will Rogers' historic home, according to California State Parks.Will Rogers' house at Will Rogers State Historic Park was destroyed by the Palisades Fire. California State Parks, all rights reserved "California State Parks mourns the loss of these treasured natural and cultural resources, and our hearts go out to everyone impacted by the devastating fires in the Los Angeles area," California State Parks director Armando Quintero said in a statement.

Fox isnt exactly known for fostering ethical work environments. However, a new lawsuit against Fox Sports, marquee commentator Skip Bayless, and network executive Charlie Dixon has sent shockwaves through the sports broadcasting industry, emphasizing a bleak reality for women in the field.On January 3, a former hairstylist for the network, Noushin Faraji, filed a lawsuit accusing Bayless, the former co-host of Skip and Shannon: Undisputed from 2016 to 2024, of making unwanted sexual advances toward her, including offering her $1.5 million to sleep with him. The plaintiff also says that Dixon, executive vice president of content at Fox Sports 1, groped her at a party and sexually pursued other women employees. Other notable defendants listed in the complaint include popular Fox Sports 1 host Joy Taylor, who allegedly dismissed Faraji when she confided in her about the groping incident in 2017 and began mocking her accent in 2021. In one of the lawsuits more salacious claims, the plaintiff says that Taylor engaged in a sexual relationship with Dixon to get a position on Undisputed. The lawsuit alleges a harrowing saga of systematic abuse and complicity over almost a decade. Despite the breadth of the allegations, the majority of online backlash by sports fans, tabloids, and even some commentators has unsurprisingly been directed at Taylor. It reveals a double bind for women working in male-dominated environments, who find themselves in a damned if do, damned if you dont position when it comes to sexuality in the workplace. The online response to Taylor, however, shows a gross enthusiasm by men to discredit women in sports journalism. In an industry that on the surface seems like its embracing more women, there seems to be no way to win. What exactly is Faraji alleging? In the 42-page lawsuit, initially reported by Front Office Sports, Farajis attorneys say that she was forced to endure a misogynistic, racist, and ableist workplace where executives and talent were allowed to physically and verbally abuse workers with impunity. It includes counts of sexual battery, hostile work environment, retaliation, and wrongful termination. Faraji is also requesting that her suit be certified as a class action. The complaint includes allegations on behalf of other anonymous Fox employees in California regarding unfair wages and illegal business practices. Fox Corporation, Fox Sports Holding, LLC, Fox Sports 1 LLC, Fox Sports 2 LLC, Dixon, Bayless, Taylor and several anonymous Fox employees are listed as defendants.In the initial reporting of the lawsuit, Fox Sports told Front Office Sports, We take these allegations seriously and have no further comment at this time given this pending litigation. Representatives for Dixon, Bayless, and Taylor have yet to comment on the situation. Taylor, however, resumed hosting on FS1s show Speak on Monday without addressing the lawsuit. According to the complaint, Faraji began as a part-time hairstylist for Fox in 2012 before being hired full-time in 2016. In 2016, she befriended Taylor, who was then working on a day-to-day basis for the network. It was through Taylor who Faraji eventually styled on Undisputed and, later, Speak that she first became aware of Dixons alleged sexual impropriety with women employees at Fox. Faraji says she discovered that Taylor and Dixon had a sexual relationship in 2016 after he began accompanying Taylor on their social outings. A couple of months later, it was announced that Taylor was hired for the then newly announced Undisputed television show as a moderator. The complaint alleges that Dixon gave Taylor the job as a reward for their relationship. Faraji also claims she heard that Dixon also punished women at the network for not obliging to his sexual demands. Faraji says in the lawsuit that an anonymous woman employee claimed to have been let go for rejecting Dixons advances and that another talk show host had reported his predatory behavior to the network. Joy Taylor at Billboard Women in Music on March 6, 2024, in Inglewood, California. Oscar Del Aguila/Billboard via Getty ImagesIn 2017, Faraji had her own run-in with Dixon at Taylors birthday party. Faraji alleges that the executive grabbed her butt while they were standing at a bar. Faraji says that when she confided in Taylor about the incident, Taylor told her to get over it. At the same time that Taylor was allegedly seeing Dixon, Faraji claims Taylor also began dating ex-NFL player and network talent Emmanuel Acho, in hopes that he would recommend her for Speak. Faraji says she advised her not to see Dixon and Acho at the same time, as Dixon might retaliate against her. Taylor allegedly responded that she would tell the company that Dixon forced himself on her and that she wouldnt be forced out by Mr. Dixon like other women.Faraji alleges that she started experiencing harassment from Bayless while working as a full-time hairstylist on Undisputed beginning in 2017. Faraji says that Bayless would give her lingering hugs and kisses on the cheek before becoming more aggressive and direct with his advances, which she consistently declined. In 2021, she told Bayless about a cancer scare involving her left ovary hoping he would back off. In response, she says, he offered her $1.5 million to have sex with him, which she rejected. According to the complaint, Bayless continued making advances over the years, eventually accusing Faraji of sleeping with his co-star and rival Shannon Sharpe which she denies and threatening her job at one point. Throughout her tenure, Faraji, whos Iranian, says she experienced sexual and racial harassment from a mic technician (who allegedly doubled as an on-set cocaine dealer). She claims she was called a Persian b**** by an unnamed employee (called Ms. M in the suit).Taylor also allegedly mocked her English and complained about her habitual humming, which Faraji says is a coping mechanism for her diagnosed PTSD. Faraji says a co-worker reported Ms. M to human resources on her behalf in 2020 while she told a supervisor about her issues with Taylor to her supervisor in 2023. But she says both incidents were ultimately dismissed or handled poorly by higher-ups. By August 2024, Faraji was taken off the work schedule. Her termination came a year after she participated in an internal investigation in which she says she was asked about Taylors relationships with Dixon and Acho. During this time, Faraji claims that Bayless was asked by human resources whether she had offered him sex. When Bayless responded no, they allegedly impli[ed] that they wanted him to say otherwise. Her complaint describes this as the companys common tactic of retaliating against employees who were either witness[es] or target[s] of bad behavior, although Fox told Faraji they could no longer afford her services. Faraji is now seeking unspecified monetary damages and a jury trial. Indeed, this is hardly new territory for Fox, although most of the corporations history of misconduct allegations have occurred under their news arm. In 2016, a number of women Fox News employees, including anchors Gretchen Carlson and Megyn Kelly, accused now-deceased CEO and chair Roger Ailes of sexual harassment. In 2017, a bombshell New York Times investigation found that Fox News and Bill OReilly paid tens of millions of dollars to settle six allegations of sexual harassment and verbal abuse. Foxs sports division isnt unfamiliar with public scandals either. The same year, Fox Sports ousted its former president of national networks, Jamie Horowitz, for sexual harassment claims. The coverage of the lawsuit within the sports world hasnt been much better. Incendiary former Fox Sports host Jason Whitlock, known for his controversial takes on racial issues, had some sexist words for Taylor when discussing the lawsuit. On his show Fearless With Jason Whitlock this week, he called her a symbol of this whole feminist movement and said she exemplifies the consequences of sharing everything with women. Meanwhile, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy defended Taylors alleged relationships with her colleagues but rejected Farajis allegations, calling the lawsuit a shakedown. Notably, Sharpe didnt have anything to say about his former co-host Bayless alleged behavior or his own involvement in the lawsuit when it was brought up on his podcast Nightcap. That aint got nothing to do with me, he said. So theres nothing to address.Its not a surprise that most of the attention has fallen on Taylor in the aftermath online while Farajis allegations against Bayless and Dixon have caused less outrage. Many social media users expressed anger about the claim by the claim that she had planned to accuse Dixon of sexual misconduct if she faced retaliation for dating another man. Meanwhile, jokes about Taylors alleged relationships including the fact that these salacious claims have the heat off of Bayless and Dixon abound online. Sideline reporter Erin Andrews interviews Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons after the Cowboys defeated the New York Giants on November 28, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesSeveral users have suggested that Taylors alleged actions will negatively affect other women in sports journalism and cast doubt over their accomplishments. On one hand, its hard not to assume that Taylors part of the lawsuit will have negative repercussions for women. Male sports fans online are figuratively foaming at the mouth to purport the narrative that Taylor allegedly slept her way to the top, and some are even implying that other women sports reporters may have done the same. However, the discourse surrounding Taylor has exposed a long-standing problem facing women in the field. The landscape of sports broadcasting has changed a lot at least, cosmetically for women over the past 50 years. In 1978, Sports Illustrated reporter Melissa Ludtke had to sue the Major League Baseball for denying her access to players locker rooms. Now, women sports journalists, like Jemele Hill, Taylor Rooks, Erin Andrews, and Mina Kimes, are some of the most recognizable faces and awarded reporters in the industry while still having to navigate their own challenges.Andrews notably became a flash point the sort of misogyny women sportscasters can experience when a nonconsensual nude video of her was posted online in 2009 after she was stalked and secretly recorded in a hotel room. In 2017, after Hill called Donald Trump a white supremacist on social media, she faced a wave of misogynoir from critics online. More recently, Kimes was called a Japanese slur by a Boston radio host, while Rooks has had to defend her way of dressing against finger-wagging sports fans. Many issues remain for women in the industry regarding casual sexism, equal pay, and the ability to challenge sports narratives vocalized by their male counterparts. Outside of issues they may face directly in the workplace, theres the struggle to be taken seriously by audiences when reporting on a subject that only men are viewed as having true expertise in. Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton famously got in trouble in 2017 when he told a woman journalist that it was funny to hear her ask him about football. In a 2022 interview with The Cut, several women sports reporters spoke about the anxiety of having any sort of slip-up on-air, given the way male sports fans are eager to label them uninformed. The fear of being wrong and losing credibility because of something really dumb is real, NFL Network host Colleen Wolfe said. The worry of being labeled unqualified and the harassment that comes with it seems to have made this lawsuit particularly bleak for women sports commentators. Contrary to popular takes on the internet, its not something that the allegations in this lawsuit has newly brought on but that misogynistic sports fans are happy to perpetuate. Youve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More: