According to pennlive.com, sports agent Casey Close is an interested party in the Fox News sexual harassment suit. The suit involves Fox News chief executive Roger Ailes and one of the cable channel’s former star anchors, Gretchen Carlson. Carlson is suing Ailes for sexual harassment and resultant damages in New Jersey Superior Court.
Carlson was the 1989 Miss America and was an accomplished violinist before beginning in 2000 as a morning anchor with CBS, then in 2005 with Fox News anchor. She interviewed virtually every newsmaker of note including President Barack Obama, former President George W. Bush, as well as Presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Close and Carlson have been married for 19 years.
Close was an outstanding baseball player but never was afforded the opportunity to play in the major league, instead of opting out of sports all together he decided to build a career on the agency side. In the last 25 years, he has built a tidy client list and negotiated the contracts of three of the most well-paid men in baseball – Derek Jeter, Ryan Howard and Clayton Kershaw.
Close has a background in contract law and will not be assisting his wife in this legal battle other than for moral support. Carlson filed this suit on her own and with due reason if the accusations are anywhere close to true. The accusations are lurid as they can be and cast Ailes as the sort of stereotypical pig who, when she entered his office, asked “her to turn around so he could view her posterior.”
The suit further alleges that Carlson’s career was derailed by Ailes and finally terminated because she rebuffed his repeated advances. They culminated with a September meeting in his office in which Ailes allegedly assessed: “I think you and I should have had a sexual relationship a long time ago and then you’d be good and better and I’d be good and better.”
The trauma that Carlson has gone through is unfortunately seen in many legal suits and law firms. While many women do not speak up about their experiences out of fear or ongoing severe trauma, it is encouraged that they do to obtain the justice they deserve. Many attorneys deal with sexual harassment law and will handle your case with care and determination to get justice, just as Carlson is searching to achieve.
This suit hits close to home for Close, but it will not be his first time dealing with alleged sketchy characters. In a business rife with some sketchy characters, he is well respected, known as usually modest and never ostentatious of manner. When you consider how successful and wealthy he is – listed No. 11 on Forbes’ list of sports agents last year at $31.4 million in commissions alone in 2015 – that makes his demeanor all the more remarkable.
“He’s done a great job,” Jeter told USA Today‘s Bob Nightengale in 2014. “But the thing about Casey is that he’s not someone who goes around flaunting that he negotiated all of these contracts. Casey understands that he has a job to do, and it’s not about him. It’s about doing what’s best for his clients. He’s always been that way.”
Zack Greinke, now of the Diamondbacks, put it more bluntly to Nightengale about Close:
“He has better ethics than most. I don’t think he’s slimy like a lot of guys are. … He may not get every last penny, but he’s not going to get in a situation where you get screwed, or get put in a bad situation or bad contract.”
One reply on “Sports Agent Casey Close Interested Bystander In Sexual Harassment Suit”
Isn’t it strange that the best agents are the ones you only hear about when contracts are signed? They know who the REAL stars are and even though they’re the best don’t crave/want the limelight. They also don’t have 20+ clients,if only so they can give them all the time/attn they need. A few well paid clients seems better than 20 moderate paid ones imho