In mid-October 2022, journalist Taylor Auerbach was dispatched to Canberra to cover Bruce Lehrmann’s rape trial in hopes of signing him up for an exclusive interview. Auerbach reported that Lehrmann had been approached by various media outlets, including Channel Nine, but was not interested in making money from the case as he had received pro bono legal representation and was in debt. Auerbach expressed interest in securing Lehrmann for an interview, stating that it would require a significant amount of work to cover all bases and recreate unseen vision and audio for the interview to be the “most amazing thing on Australian TV ever”.
The text messages between Auerbach and others were presented in the Federal Court as evidence in a defamation trial initiated by Lehrmann against Channel Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson over an interview with Brittany Higgins in which she alleged she had been raped by a colleague at Parliament House. Auerbach testified that Lehrmann’s media minder, John Macgowan, was pitching a $200,000 deal for Lehrmann, with Macgowan later revealing that he had actually started negotiations at $280,000. Following the collapse of Lehrmann’s rape trial due to juror misconduct, the group consisting of Lehrmann, Macgowan, Auerbach, and Mark Llewellyn discussed a deal over dinner and later enjoyed the services of Thai masseuses at Auerbach’s apartment.
Several weeks later, the group including Lehrmann, Auerbach, Llewellyn, and Macgowan went on a golf weekend in Tasmania followed by Lehrmann seeking additional favors such as accommodations and tickets to the Test cricket in Sydney. Despite warnings from Auerbach and Jackson to keep a low profile, Lehrmann continued to make public appearances and indulge in extravagant activities such as dining at expensive restaurants and ordering cocaine, which was later reimbursed by Seven via an invoice item for “pre-production expenses”. Lehrmann also arranged for sex workers to come to his city apartment and later to a Surry Hills brothel, all at the expense of Seven.
During the defamation trial, it was revealed that Seven had spent an estimated $40,000 on wining, dining, accommodation, flights, cocaine, and sex workers for Lehrmann, in addition to secretly agreeing to pay his rent for a year, totaling over $100,000. The deal with Seven, which included accommodating all of Lehrmann’s demands, ended last week as Lehrmann was seen moving out of the Balgowlah rental to accommodation in North Sydney. The judge presiding over the case, Justice Michael Lee, indicated that he plans to deliver his judgment towards the end of the following week.
The behavior of Lehrmann, Auerbach, Llewellyn, and Macgowan during the course of the defamation trial has raised questions among senior media figures about the lengths to which Spotlight went to accommodate Lehrmann’s demands, particularly considering that Seven seemed to be the only bidder for his “tell-all” interview. The revelations of extravagant spending and excessive accommodations for Lehrmann have brought scrutiny to the ethics and practices of media outlets in their pursuit of high-profile interviews and stories. The outcome of Lehrmann’s defamation case will likely have implications for the media industry and the coverage of sensitive and controversial stories in the future.
