A former Fox Sports reporter has sued the network and its top executive, Charlie Dixon, accusing him of sexually assaulting her. In the lawsuit filed at Los Angeles County Superior Court on Friday, Julie Stewart-Binks claimed that he coaxed her to his hotel room to discuss Super Bowl plans and “tried to force his tongue into her mouth” in 2016, reported Associated Press.
According to the lawsuit, Stewart-Binks was due to appear on Jason Whitlock’s House Party By the Bay as part of the network’s plans for the 2016 Super Bowl. However, she allegedly received a text from Dixon asking her to meet him at his hotel room the night before her meeting with the show’s team. The 33-year-old reluctantly agreed to meet him after he invited her to check out the view from his balcony.
Dixon had previously told her that he wanted to talk about her appearance on the show but instead began berating her, saying she was not “funny, interesting, or talented,” the lawsuit said. He allegedly told Stewart-Binks that she was not “capable of handling big moments on TV” and that she could only gain an audience if she “got on the bar and took off her top.”
Once Stewart-Binks went up to his balcony, Dixon “swiftly pushed her against the wall and pinned her arms to her side,” pressed his body against hers and attempted to kiss her, the lawsuit alleged, per New York Post. When she did not open her mouth, 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.”
In the wake of the lawsuit, a Fox spokesperson told AP and NYP in an email, “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 added in her lawsuit that she was inspired to speak up about the assault after Noushin Faraji, a former hairstylist for Fox Sports, filed a lawsuit on 5 January, alleging that a former host made repeated unwanted sexual advances toward her and that Dixon had groped her.
“Following Fox’s direction, Stewart-Binks remained silent outwardly, though Dixon’s assault and the media’s portrayal of her took a profound emotional toll and left her in tears much of the time,” the lawsuit continued. “Ms Stewart-Binks hopes that by seeking justice, and by doing so publicly, sports networks will recognize the necessity of ridding those who abuse power and those who protect them,” it added, per AP.
