01-07-2025
Former Fox Sports reporter requests dismissal of suit against network, executive
Television journalist Julie Stewart-Binks has filed a request for dismissal of her lawsuit against Fox and Fox Sports executive Charlie Dixon, resolving a legal matter with her former network that began in January when she said she was sexually assaulted by Dixon in 2016. The dismissal comes following settlement discussions between Fox and Stewart-Binks, which began in April, according to court filings.
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In that lawsuit, Stewart-Binks, 38, alleged that Dixon asked her to come to his hotel room following a work meeting and pushed her against a wall, pinned her arms and forcibly kissed her in January 2016. She also claimed 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.'
Stewart-Binks' attorney, Rana Ayazi of Ayazi Abney, filed the request with Los Angeles County Superior Court on Friday.
'I am pleased that this matter has been resolved,' Stewart-Binks said.
Fox Sports and Dixon did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Stewart-Binks' lawsuit was the second filed against Fox and Dixon in January 2025. Noushin Faraji, a former hairstylist for Fox Sports, filed a lawsuit earlier that month, alleging in her complaint that Dixon groped her at a co-worker's party in January 2017. (Faraji's lawsuit remains active.)
Stewart-Binks told The Athletic in a January interview and said in her complaint that Dixon's alleged assault followed a meeting at a hotel bar, which she attended after Dixon conveyed that he wanted to discuss her assignment at the 2016 Super Bowl. He later asked her to come to his room to see the view from his balcony, where she said the alleged assault occurred.
According to her complaint, Stewart-Binks spoke to a Fox human resources representative in 2017 and disclosed what Dixon allegedly said to her in that meeting and what occurred on the balcony of his hotel room.
In response to Stewart-Binks' account, Fox Sports said in a statement on Jan. 31: '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.'
Less than a week after Stewart-Binks' lawsuit was filed, Dixon, who joined Fox Sports in 2015 and eventually ascended to its top programming role with FS1, was placed on administrative leave.
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Dixon exited the company in April. Dixon's attorney John Ly said at the time that Dixon cooperated fully with the investigation and denied that the claims of sexual harassment prompted his departure.
'After nine years in positions of increasing responsibility at the network, Mr. Dixon was told that he was being let go for violating company policy,' Ly's statement said. 'According to the network, Mr. Dixon did not disclose to human resources or the legal department that a third-party production company had hired his wife as a temporary freelancer. But the reality is that Mr. Dixon had asked his supervisor about the hire and was told that there were no objections. It is noteworthy that a Fox spokesperson made no reference to the company investigation of sexual harassment claims in announcing Mr. Dixon's departure.'
In her January 2025 complaint, Stewart-Binks asked Fox to terminate 'the responsible individuals, as well as those who enabled or protected them.'
(Photo of Julie Stewart-Binks by Valerie Terranova / Getty Images for Prime Video)
