Former host Julie Stewart-Binks sues Fox, says FS1 executive sexually assaulted her

Former Fox Sports anchor and reporter Julie Stewart-Binks filed a lawsuit Friday in Los Angeles County Superior Court in which she alleges that Fox Sports executive vice president Charlie Dixon sexually assaulted her in 2016 while she was working at the network.

According to the complaint, Dixon pushed her against a wall, pinned her arms and forcibly kissed Stewart-Binks in January 2016 following a meeting to discuss an upcoming Super Bowl assignment. Stewart-Binks alleges she later reported his conduct to a Fox human resources representative but that the network “egregiously made the deliberate decision to protect Dixon and allow a sexual predator to remain an executive at Fox for nearly a decade.”

The lawsuit against Fox and Dixon follows a separate lawsuit filed earlier this month by Noushin Faraji, a former hairstylist at the network. In that complaint, Faraji alleges that Dixon groped her at a co-worker’s birthday party by “rubbing her body and groping her buttocks” in January 2017.

Dixon did not respond to multiple messages seeking comment. Fox Sports said in a statement: “These allegations are from over eight years ago. At the time, we promptly hired a third-party firm to investigate and addressed the matter based on their findings.”

Stewart-Binks worked full-time at FS1 from the network’s launch in 2013 until 2016. According to the lawsuit, she had been assigned to work as a host on Jason Whitlock’s pop-up show for the 2016 Super Bowl when Dixon invited her to a hotel bar in Marina Del Rey, Calif., to discuss that assignment.

At that meeting, “instead of discussing logistics or his vision for the show, Dixon began berating Stewart-Binks, telling her: ‘You’re not funny, interesting or talented,’” according to the complaint. After telling Stewart-Binks she was “not capable of handling big moments on TV,” Dixon allegedly gestured toward the bar and said: “The only way someone would watch you is if you got on top of this bar and took your top off.” He also allegedly told her: “You’re not hot enough to be a hot girl on TV.”

Dixon later asked Stewart-Binks to come to his hotel room for a beer and to see the view from his balcony. This set off “alerts” in Stewart-Binks’ mind, according to the complaint, but she felt she could not refuse him because he was her boss.

Once in the room, Dixon asked her to come out on the balcony and “swiftly pushed her against the wall and pinned her arms to her side,” according to the complaint. “With her arms forcefully held down and his body pressed against hers, Dixon tried to force his tongue into her mouth.” Stewart-Binks said her mouth remained shut but that Dixon “ignored her, continuing to press against her body and lick her closed mouth. While keeping one of her arms pinned, he moved his other arm from pressing her upper elbow against the wall to her body and towards her chest.”

She fled the room and, after getting in her car, called a friend to disclose what happened. The complaint does not identify that person, referring to her only as “Anonymous Friend.”

Stewart-Binks asserts in the litigation that she worried about what her rejection of Dixon’s advances would mean for her future at FS1. She decided against disclosing what allegedly happened at the hotel because she feared losing her job, particularly given that her contract was up for renewal.

Days later, Stewart-Binks was in San Francisco working as a host on Whitlock’s Super Bowl show. At a production meeting on Feb. 4, 2016, a producer told the show crew that New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski had revealed recently that he had once been a stripper in college. According to the complaint, that producer and others encouraged Stewart-Binks to coax Gronkowski into doing some “Magic Mike moves” for her (a reference to a 2012 movie about male exotic dancers). The hope was to create “a viral moment.” One producer even handed her dollar bills as a prop.

Stewart-Binks was widely criticized for her role in the stunt, during which Gronkowski straddled her and gyrated his hips while she sat on a couch.

“Ordinarily, Ms. Stewart-Binks would have considered the implications of such a performance. However, fresh off Dixon’s assault, both physical and verbal, Ms. Stewart-Binks was determined to prove that she was fun and belonged in FS1’s new regime,” the complaint states. “She had to show Dixon and Fox that she had what it took to be a fun, interesting personality capable of handling big moments on TV.”

Dixon’s sexual and verbal assault and the vitriol directed at her in the wake of the Gronkowski incident “took a profound emotional toll,” according to the complaint.

Stewart-Binks was told the next month – March 2016 – that her contract would not be renewed.

According to the complaint, Stewart-Binks was contacted by a Fox human resources official in June 2017 as that official was probing allegations made against Jamie Horowitz, another FS1 executive. She told that HR representative she had nothing substantive to share about Horowitz but conveyed what allegedly happened with Dixon. Stewart-Binks states in the complaint that she provided the HR official with the names of two Fox employees with whom she disclosed her experience with Dixon. Those two employees told Stewart-Binks they corroborated her account with Fox’s HR official, according to the complaint.

In July 2017, Horowitz was fired by Fox Sports, but Dixon remained at the network. Then-Fox Sports president Eric Shanks wrote to staffers when announcing Horowitz’s exit: “Everyone at Fox Sports, no matter what role we play, or what business, function or show we contribute to—should act with respect and adhere to professional conduct at all times. These values are non-negotiable.”

Stewart-Binks went on to work in smaller roles for ESPN, CBC and other outlets. She currently hosts a podcast with former NHL player Nate Thompson, works as a reporter for SNY and the PWHL and is a brand ambassador and host for the BetRivers Sportsbook Network.

According to the complaint: “Stewart-Binks tried to put everything about Fox behind her and move forward with her new positions within the sports industry, but each time she saw a former colleague from Fox thriving on the national stage while she remained covering smaller markets, a pang of frustration lingered. This wasn’t the life she had envisioned for herself. Intrusive thoughts would enter her mind on how different her life could have been if she had just had sex with Dixon, but she would shut them down. To cope with the severe emotional toll of what Dixon had done to her, Ms. Stewart-Binks sought professional help.”

(Photo: Scott Winters / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)