Former FS1 host Julie Stewart-Binks alleged she was sexually assaulted by network exec Charlie Dixon in the second lawsuit filed against Fox and Dixon over the last month.
Stewart-Binks alleged in the lawsuit obtained by Front Office Sports that Dixon invited her to a hotel room in Marina del Rey, Calif., in January 2016 where the executive “forcefully held down and his body pressed against hers” and then “tried to force his tongue into her mouth.” In 2017, Stewart-Binks said she detailed Dixon’s conduct to Fox Sports human resources, and 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.”
“These allegations are from over eight years ago,” Fox Sports said in a statement to Front Office Sports. “At the time, we promptly hired a third-party firm to investigate and addressed the matter based on their findings.”
According to the 22-page lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday, a colleague of Stewart-Binks’ told her on Jan. 25 that Dixon was still working at FS1’s studios and that he said, “I’m not going anywhere.”
Stewart-Binks, 37, worked at FS1 from its launch in 2013 through April 2016 when her contract wasn’t renewed. The Athletic was the first to report on the civil complaint before it was filed in court.
Stewart-Binks said she was contacted by Fox Sports HR in 2017 after a claim was reported against Fox Sports President Jamie Horowitz, who was fired in the summer of 2017. Horowitz denied the allegation. Stewart-Binks reportedly said in the probe that there had been no wrongdoing by Horowitz, but reported the alleged misconduct from Dixon at the time.
Dixon, Horowitz’s top lieutenant, took over as the head of content for FS1 and FS2 in the wake of Horowitz’s departure and has held that position since.
“That was sex, drugs, affairs, and now it’s more old-fashioned misogyny,” a source close to the situation told FOS. “It is not a building for women’s advancement, professionally or mentally. There’s exceptions, but not many.”
Stewart-Binks said she is also still scarred by a segment in which Patriots and Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski gave her a lapdance during a special at Super Bowl week in 2016 (a scene she said was pre-planned by producers in an attempt to go viral).
“I will spend my entire life trying to make up for this,” Stewart-Binks told The Athletic, fighting back tears. “I will die trying to make up for this moment that’s clearly not who I am.”
Since her time at FS1, Stewart-Binks has been an on-air talent for ESPN, CBS Sports, NBC Sports, TNT, Barstool Sports, SNY, and Fubo TV. She also worked as an Olympic correspondent for the CBC in Canada.
FOS was the first outlet to report about the Jan. 3 complaint filed by former longtime Fox Sports hairstylist Noushin Faraji. Dixon, Fox, Fox Sports, FS1, FS2, former FS1 host Skip Bayless, and FS1 host Joy Taylor are also defendants in the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court that seeks unspecified monetary damages and a jury trial.
Stewart-Binks detailed in her lawsuit how she met with Dixon at a bar at the Ritz Carlton in Marina Del Rey before the alleged sexual assault occurred. Dixon asked Stewart-Binks what she wanted to do with her career and Stewart-Binks responded she wanted to host, according to the lawsuit.
“You’re not a good host,” Dixon allegedly told Stewart-Binks. “Joy Taylor is a good host.”
Dixon, who had been drinking, then invited Stewart-Binks to his room to show her the view, according to the lawsuit.
Stewart-Binks contacted and ultimately retained the same two lawyers—Rana Ayazi and Devin Abney—who represent Faraji.
“How is Charlie still there,” an unnamed individual texted Stewart-Binks after FOS reported on Faraji’s complaint. “He’s literally the biggest dirt bag I’ve ever worked for.”
In her lawsuit, Faraji alleged that Dixon committed sexual battery during a birthday party held for Taylor at a bar and restaurant in West Hollywood in January 2017. According to the lawsuit, Dixon “placed his arm on Ms. Faraji’s lower back” and asked her if she wanted a tequila shot.” Faraji said she felt uncomfortable by the “unsolicited touching” and politely declined the drink offer before Dixon “then moved his hand lower and started rubbing her body and grabbing her buttocks.”
According to the complaint, Faraji told Taylor about the incident.
“Ms. Faraji did not know who to turn to, but as she knew Ms. Taylor was sleeping with
Mr. Dixon, she turned to her, “ Faraji’s lawyers wrote in the lawsuit. “Surprisingly, Ms. Taylor responded to ‘get over it’ and explained that she herself only had her job because of Mr. Dixon and that Ms. Faraji only had her job because Ms. Taylor requested her. “She warned that Mr. Dixon could take both away.”
Faraji was let go by Fox Sports in August 2024, around the same time Undisputed, the FS1 show featuring Bayless, was canceled. By that time, she claimed in the lawsuit that she had brought toxic workplace concerns she and other women at Fox Sports to the network’s HR department.
