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Fox Sports has been in mediation with Julie Stewart-Binks for a possible settlement of her lawsuit alleging she was sexually assaulted by network executive Charlie Dixon.
According to documents obtained by Front Office Sports, Stewart-Binks and Fox engaged in mediation on April 3.
“While the parties did not resolve at mediation, they are continuing to engage in settlement discussions with the mediator,” according to a joint stipulation to extend the defendant’s time to respond to the plaintiff’s complaint filed with the Los Angeles Superior Court.
The news of the mediation and settlement talks was contained in a joint filing from attorneys for Fox and Stewart-Binks seeking an extension of the deadline for Fox to answer the complaint by Stewart-Binks. The court granted the request, extending the deadline to May 9.
Stewart-Binks worked at Fox from 2013 through April 2016, when her contract was not renewed. She has since worked for Barstool Sports, ESPN, and fuboTV.
Earlier this year, she filed a 22-page lawsuit alleging Dixon invited her to a hotel room in Marina del Rey, Calif., in January 2016, then “with her arms forcefully held down and his body pressed against hers, Dixon tried to force his tongue into her mouth.”
To prove that she belonged, Stewart-Binks claimed that she reluctantly agreed to participate in an embarrassing “Magic Mike” lap dance with former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski on former Fox talent Jason Whitlock’s Super Bowl preview show.
“The performance faced an immediate backlash,” according to her suit. “Online, Ms. Stewart-Binks was lambasted on Twitter and social media with comments and messages criticizing her, claiming she was setting back women through her actions. She sat down, scrolled through the articles, and cried.”
In the lawsuit, Stewart-Binks said she detailed Dixon’s conduct to Fox human resources in 2017. But 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,” according to her suit.
The Stewart-Binks suit asks Fox to terminate “the responsible individuals, as well as those who enabled or protected them, without severance.”
Awful Announcing first reported that Dixon filed a response to the lawsuit claiming that “no sexual or offensive contact or intentional contact with [Stewart-Binks]” at the meeting in 2016.
Earlier this year, hairstylist Nushin Faraji also sued Fox, alleging she was sexually harassed by Dixon and Skip Bayless and insulted on a “personal and professional level” by Joy Taylor. FOS reported last week that Faraji was also in settlement talks with Fox.
Meanwhile, Shannon Sharpe, the former co-host of FS1’s Undisputed with Bayless, has been accused of rape in a $50 million civil lawsuit. Sharpe was also in mediation with his accuser before she suddenly filed her lawsuit Sunday night.
Dixon has been placed on administrative leave. Bayless split with Fox last year. Taylor was briefly sidelined by the network, but she returned to host her weekday show Speak after a two-week absence.
Sharpe took a buyout from Fox in 2023 after an on-air blow-up with Bayless. His Club Shay Shay podcast/YouTube show has become a major hit, with his explosive Katt Williams interview drawing 89 million views. Last June, Sharpe signed a multi-year deal with ESPN to appear on Stephen A. Smith’s top-rated First Take several days a week, as well as other programming.
Fox and Stewart-Binks’ attorneys could not be reached for comment.
Deals Reporter Ben Horney contributed to this story
