As a fictional tennis coach, Zendaya juggled trysts with two professional athletes. But off-screen, the actor has no more Challengers to speak of, at least romantically.
That was confirmed Monday, when People and TMZ reported that the actor, who was born and raised in Oakland, was engaged to Tom Holland. Zendaya attended the Golden Globes with what appeared to be an engagement ring on her finger, sparking a flurry of online speculation. The news arrives after a career-defining year for Zendaya, who reached even greater heights of commercial and critical success with her starring roles in “Dune: Part Two” and “Challengers.”
Zendaya and Holland met on the set of “Spider-Man: Homecoming.” Although Zendaya and Holland’s franchise is marked by an absence of upside-down kiss scenes, their relationship seems stronger for it; with their engagement, the pair could easily claim the title of the most enduring “Spider-Man” couple. Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, who played Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson in the Sam Raimi “Spider-Man” films, dated for around a year before their break-up senses started tingling. Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, whose two “The Amazing Spider-Man” films are unfairly maligned on Letterboxd, were entangled in each other’s web for four years.
Hailing from Oakland, Zendaya got her start acting at the California Shakespeare Theater in Orinda. When that venue was at risk of shutting down last year, she donated $100,000 to save it. In 2024’s whirlwind of celebrity look-alike contests, Oakland answered New York’s Timothée Chalamet-themed gathering with a Zendaya look-alike contest.
A former Fox Sports hairstylist alleges in a lawsuit that a network executive used “his position to sexually harass women,” as well as that Skip Bayless touched her inappropriately and propositioned her for sex.
Noushin Faraji, who says she worked at Fox Sports from 2012 through last August, made a series of allegations in the 42-page lawsuit obtained by Front Office Sports. Fox, Fox Sports, FS1, FS2, Fox Sports EVP Charlie Dixon, Bayless, and FS1 host Joy Taylor are listed as defendants in the lawsuit.
In the suit filed Friday in Los Angeles, Faraji alleges that Dixon, the head of content for FS1, grabbed her buttocks at a birthday party in West Hollywood. When she relayed the encounter to Taylor, the Fox host allegedly told her to “get over it,” according to the suit.
The lawsuit seeks class-action status on behalf of Faraji and other nonexempt Fox employees working in California over the past four years. Faraji seeks unspecified monetary damages and a jury trial.
After starting work on the Undisputed morning show starring Bayless, the suit alleges he began giving Faraji “lingering hugs and kisses on the cheek while putting his body against hers and pressing against her breasts.” The single mother alleges she repeatedly told Bayless she was not interested in him and did not “date at work.” She also claims she told Bayless she was suffering from ovarian cancer, after developing issues with her left ovary, in an effort to halt his advances.
Instead, Bayless became more aggressive over the years, according to the suit. He allegedly offered Faraji $1.5 million to have sex with him—and claimed he could “change” her life. The suit also claims Bayless accused Faraji of sleeping with Shannon Sharpe, his co-star on
During her time at Fox, Faraji alleges she made multiple complaints to the Human Resources and Employee Relations departments.
Meanwhile, the suit alleges Taylor began “insulting Ms. Faraji on a personal and professional level” after their friendship ended. The suit also alleges that Taylor mocked the “English” pronunciation of Faraji, who is of Persian descent.
“Her lengthy tenure at Fox Sports and not-so-thinly-veiled references to multiple anonymous witnesses suggests that she may have the receipts to back up her version of the events,” said Daniel Wallach, a sports law attorney and co-host of the podcast Conduct Detrimental. “Just as importantly, she contemporaneously raised these issues with co-workers, which, in the jurors’ eyes, could boost the credibility of these claims.”
Fox Sports released the following statement to FOS: “We take these allegations seriously and have no further comment at this time given this pending litigation.”
Ms. Faraji’s lawyers did not immediately respond to FOS.
The lawsuit follows a year of major talent changes at FS1, Fox’s national sports cable network. In August, Bayless left after eight years as the star of the Undisputed morning show. His former on-air partner, Sharpe, reached a buyout agreement in 2023 after publicly clashing with Bayless on the air.
After the cancelation of Undisputed, Dixon and FS1 management revamped the network’s weekday studio lineup this year, launching the new Breakfast Ball and The Facility, while keeping Colin Cowherd’s The Herd and Nick Wright’s First Things First in their time slots. The suit clears Cowherd of wrongdoing, saying “throughout her entire tenure at Fox, Mr. Cowherd was professional and respectful to Ms. Faraji and her coworkers.”
