Few voices in sports media have spoken publicly about the mounting allegations against embattled Fox Sports executive Charlie Dixon, but Katie Nolan can now be counted among them. Sort of.
“Charlie Dixon sucks. On the record,” Nolan wrote in an email to The Cut, breaking what’s largely been an industry-wide silence around Dixon, who has been on leave from Fox Sports since February.
Nolan’s six-word response came as a direct reply to The Cut’s request for comment about the mounting allegations against Dixon, who is now facing two separate lawsuits — one from former Fox Sports host Julie Stewart-Binks and another from former hairstylist Noushin Faraji. Both lawsuits accuse Dixon of sexual misconduct and paint a damning portrait of his behavior and the broader culture at Fox Sports during his tenure.
Stewart-Binks alleges that during a 2016 meeting in Dixon’s hotel room to discuss a Super Bowl assignment, he pinned her against a wall, held her arms, and forcibly kissed her. Dixon has denied the accusation in a recent court filing, claiming there was “no sexual or offensive contact.”
Stewart-Binks’ lawsuit also reexamines one of the most infamous moments of her career: a televised lap dance from Rob Gronkowski during her time at Fox Sports. While the segment was framed as lighthearted comedy, Stewart-Binks now says she felt coerced into participating, believing her job was on the line after Dixon had criticized her on-air presence.
“Had I not (done it), I would have felt like I failed and that I would have confirmed what (Dixon) told me,” she told The Athletic’s Katie Strang.
A few hours after, Nolan told GQ that she disapproved of the segment, “I think when we’re in sports, and there are only so many women, and that’s how a show chooses to use them…”
Her 2016 comments about women in sports and the way they are often used as props for entertainment now resonate more deeply, as the full scope of Dixon’s alleged misconduct, including Faraji’s allegations about him grabbing her buttocks at a birthday party, and the toxic culture at Fox Sports, come to light.
And while others remain silent, Katie Nolan’s blunt dismissal of Charlie Dixon speaks volumes.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.