Jason Binn, mogul behind Ocean Drive, DuJour, accused of groping teen girl in New York
Jason Binn — the luxury magazine publisher who helped define, and chronicle, South Beach glam in the ‘90s with Ocean Drive, the glossy mag he co-founded in 1992 — was arrested and charged with three misdemeanor counts on Monday evening.
For more than a decade, Binn has been synonymous with New York ritz as the founder of the DuJour Media brand, including its chief publication, DuJour.
The charges, according to New York State court records: forcible touching of intimate parts, endangering the welfare of a child, and sexual abuse in the third degree.
The charges stem from an accusation by a 16-year-old female relative who said that Binn squeezed her buttocks over her clothes, without her consent after dining at a restaurant in Lower Manhattan on Broadway on Feb. 14.
The New York Post said the restaurant was Cipriani. The girl first contacted police in late April.
According to court records, Binn, the DuJour magazine chief, and his attorney, Alan Edward Sash, went to court for his arraignment on Monday. Binn, 54, was released on his own recognizance. He is to return to New York Criminal Court on July 12.
Binn quickly left the court, according to reports, and he and Sash did not release statements. Binn’s divorce attorney Valentina Shaknes said in a statement to the New York Post, “This is unfortunately the latest chapter in a long and bitter divorce proceeding.”
Binn and his wife Haley split in 2016, and divorce proceedings are still not complete. The couple, who have three children, had married at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach on Collins Avenue in 2003.
By that point, Binn was splitting his time between Miami and New York, where he would go on to enjoy even more success in lifestyle magazine publishing. As a media mogul who sharpened his panache on the hot South Beach scene of the 1990s that drew stars like Madonna, Sylvester Stallone and Donald Trump to his Ocean Drive parties, Binn stayed on a first-name basis with celebs such as former Miami Heat star Chris Bosh, Beyoncé and Joan Collins.
Last week, Binn congratulated his “pal” Tom Cruise on the latter’s successful launch of his “Top Gun: Maverick” movie with an Instagram post.
In 2017, Binn sold his Tribeca apartment for nearly $11 million and bought in at a nearby pad on posh Barclay Street in New York. One of his neighbors: Meryl Streep.
After co-founding Ocean Drive Magazine with the late Jerry Powers in 1992, Binn created Niche Media, a lifestyle magazine powerhouse that had 12 editions, headquartered in New York City. He sold it in 2007 to Las Vegas-based Greenspun Media before joining Gilt Group as the CEO’s chief adviser in 2010. In 2012, he founded DuJour Media. By 2019, the media mogul had launched the luxury lifestyle brand magazine, DuJour.
His ex-wife’s parents are Diane and Alan Lieberman who own the South Beach Group Hotels in Miami, including the Catalina Hotel and Beach Club and The Metropole, where “The Jersey Shore” filmed some scenes in 2010.
In 2021, Forbes called Binn a “New York publishing legend” and a man with a “knack for networking.” Despite publishing woes in the digital realm, Binn has been able to succeed, Forbes said, because of Binn’s savvy. DuJour is a monthly digital product and quarterly print edition that was launched in Miami, New York, Los Angeles and other luxury markets, the Miami Herald reported in 2019.
“The company’s success can in large part be attributed to his incomparable ability to connect with and access celebrities, influential leaders, and prominent figures in an array of industries,” Forbes said.
“I’ve been launching magazines for 20 years and I’ve started about 12 to 15 magazines in my career,” Binn told the Herald in 2019.
“I’d like to think that my passion and drive for all kinds of media make it work, but there are a lot of factors. For this project I’ve brought on top talent and really great strategic partners to help make me smarter and more engaged.”
This story was originally published June 14, 2022 at 5:52 PM.
