Lisa Wilkinson is suing her former employer Network Ten over legal bills in the Bruce Lehrmann defamation case.
Earlier this year, Wilkinson opted out of using the network’s retained law firm to defend the defamation case brought by Lehrmann, who is suing both for their interview with Brittany Higgins.
Wilkinson has now launched legal action in the NSW Supreme Court, claiming Network Ten backed out of an agreement to pay her legal costs. She alleges the broadcaster twice accepted it was liable to indemnify the TV star even if she was “independently represented”, according to a report by The Daily Telegraph.
The report specifies the broadcaster is refusing to pay a $370,000 invoice for legal services after Wilkinson hired Gillis Delaney Lawyers and prominent defamation barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC. Network Ten traditionally uses Thomson Geer.
The lawyers were all engaged to defend over a defamation case brought by Lehrmann, who alleges that Wilkinson’s interview with Brittany Higgins on The Project, conveyed a series of defamatory meanings, including that Lehrmann raped Higgins in then defence industry minister Linda Reynolds’ office in 2019.
Nominated for two Walkley Awards and winning a Logie Award for the interview, Wilkinson quit Channel 10’s The Project in November 2022, saying she’d been subject to “targeted toxicity”.
“To be clear, I’m not leaving Ten, and we’re looking at some exciting work ideas ahead, but I have to be honest with you … the last six months have not been easy… and the relentless targeted toxicity by some sections of the media has taken a toll. Not just on me, but on people I love,” she said.
Broadcast on February 15, 2021, The Project interview with Higgins preceded Lehrmann’s trial in the ACT Supreme Court after he pleaded not guilty to sexual intercourse without consent.
While charges were dropped, ACT chief prosecutor Shane Drumgold told an inquiry he believed it was possible that federal ministers had interfered with police to thwart Lehrmann’s case.
Lehrmann chose not to speak at his trial but has continued to deny allegations that he raped Higgins. And despite not being named in The Project interview, claims he was identifiable.
Now, as he sues Wilkinson and Channel Ten over defamation, the federal court has ruled that the case will be decided by a judge and not a jury. This is after the court decided there was a risk of prejudice due to the case’s publicity.
The case is expected to start on November 22, with Higgins and Lehrmann both expected to give evidence.