Fabián Basabe (born March 30, 1978) is an American businessman and former reality television star who has served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives for the 106th district since November 8, 2022.
Early life and education
Basabe was born in New York City to an American mother and an Ecuadorian father. In 1987, Basabe's family moved to Miami, where his parents operated a hotel. He graduated from Cheshire Academy. He studied international relations at Pepperdine University before moving to Manhattan, where he became a socialite and television personality.
Career
Prior to entering politics, Basabe appeared in the reality television series Filthy Rich: Cattle Drive. He was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in November 2022.
In 2021, Basabe filed to run for Miami Beach City Commissioner, but was removed from the ballot when it was found he did not meet the Miami Beach one-year residency requirement.
Basabe describes himself as fiscally conservative and socially liberal.
Legal issues
The Miami New Times reported Basabe's encounter with U.S. Marshals in August 2020, when "armed agents surrounded him on his boat in a marina near Charleston, South Carolina." According to the report, "agents were acting on an outstanding warrant after Basabe allegedly failed to address a criminal charge arising from a Miami Beach incident in which he grabbed a neighbor's phone." Basabe was extradited from South Carolina to Florida. State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle asked Governor DeSantis to reassign Basabe's case to a different jurisdiction after Basabe repeatedly tried to influence the prosecutor.
In 2016, Basabe was charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct in Miami Beach after he climbed on the roof of a car and shouted at pedestrians as the vehicle traveled down Washington Avenue.
In July 2023, two male aides filed complaints alleging Basabe sexually harassed them, saying he told them he wanted to have sex and wanted to be a “bottom” while they could be “tops.” A legislative aide said Basabe slapped him on the buttocks during a visit to a local elementary school and said, "I want all of that butt." A volunteer in Basabe's office claimed that Basabe instructed him to openly flirt with him when they were at the state capitol. Both men say Basabe showed them a photo of a naked man on his phone. Basabe denied the accusations, calling them "ridiculous."
On April 13, 2023, CBS 4 Miami reported an allegation that Basabe physically assaulted his 25-year-old legislative aide. In a statement to CBS 4, the aide claimed Basabe had been drinking after Governor Ron DeSantis's inauguration on January 3, before slapping him in the face and demanding he stand in a corner. The law firm hired by the Florida House leadership to conduct an investigation into the slapping concluded that the incident was "inconclusive."
On July 6, 2023, the aide and an intern filed a lawsuit in Leon County, Florida, asserting that Basabe battered both of them, and the aide and his mother have alleged that Basabe defamed them after Basabe posted a Twitter statement about them calling them a mother-son con duo, and claiming that an investigation conducted by a law firm has concluded "rightly in [his] favor" but which had, in fact, been found to be "inconclusive." The lawsuit was later amended by the aide and the intern to add three counts of sexual harassment.