Brittany Higgins accuses Sky journalist of ‘cherry picking’ coverage of Lehrmann defamation case

Brittany Higgins has publicly criticized a Sky News Australia journalist for her coverage of Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation lawsuit against two media giants.

On Thursday, the former Liberal staffer appeared in court as he sued Channel 10 and news.com.au for libel over their March 2021 report in which Ms Higgins alleged that an unnamed man – Lehrmann – had her in Parliament in 2019 raped.

Senior Sky News reporter and commentator Caroline Marcus shared a link to her coverage of the court case on Twitter on Thursday evening.

She wrote: ‘Bruce Lehrmann tells the court he was ”outraged” at the interviews of Brittany Higgins, The Project and news.com.au and wanted to ‘fight back’ against the media.

Told his girlfriend at the time that he was “a pawn” in a “bigger political hatchet.”

Ms Higgins disagreed with Ms Marcus’s emphasis on Mr Lehrmann’s allegations of a ‘political hatchet’, responding to the tweet with a reminder that News Corp – Sky’s parent company – is part of the lawsuit.

She said, “You realize NewsCorp is also being sued? With your own claim it means that your own organization was part of this ‘political hatchet’.

‘I was also a Liberal staffer and my partner worked at Sky News. I literally don’t understand this whole story.’

Ms Marcus responded in what quickly became a tit-for-tat, telling Ms Higgins ‘these are not my claims but a record of court proceedings and what was said on the witness stand’.

By that point, Ms. Higgins’ initial response had accumulated hundreds of likes and endorsements.

Mrs. Higgins hit back, “Come on. Let’s take a look at your continued framing of this case in tweets since the criminal case.

“Keep cherry-picking, but know that NewsCorp’s attorneys have filed a truth defense.”

Mrs. Marcus replied, “Er yes, I’ve been reporting that all day,” to which Mrs. Higgins ignored.

Bruce Lehrmann (pictured, centre, Thursday) was not named in the Channel 10 broadcast or in the news.com.au article, but his claim is that his identity would have been known in political circles

The comments Ms Marcus referred to in her tweet were made by Mr Lehrmann to his girlfriend at the time, Greta Sinclair.

Mrs. Sinclair was distraught at the extraordinary televised accusations.

He told the court on Thursday that he had placated her by suggesting his lawyer had told him he was a “pawn” and “part of a larger political hatchet.”

During cross-examination, Mr. Lehrmann admitted to Ten’s lawyer, Matthew Collins KC, that his lawyer, Warwick Korn, never said that and that he made it up to comfort her.

Mr Lehrmann was not named in the Channel 10 broadcast or in the news.com.au article, but his claim claims that his identity would have been known in political circles.

Ms Higgins disagreed with Ms Marcus’ emphasis on Mr Lehrmann’s allegations of a ‘political hatchet’, responding to the tweet with a reminder that News Corp – Sky’s parent company – is part of the lawsuit

The interim hearing on Thursday was about why it took him two years to file the defamation suit.

Applicants normally have 12 months from publication to file a libel suit, but Mr. Lehrmann’s suit was filed two years later.

His lawyers argued that it was unreasonable for him to start the case earlier.

Meanwhile, lawyers for the broadcaster and the news website argued that he should not be allowed to file a libel suit because it was reasonable that he had filed the lawsuit within the first year.

The hearing was adjourned until Thursday, March 23.

Ms Marcus responded in what quickly became a tit-for-tat, telling Ms Higgins ‘these are not my claims but a record of court proceedings and what was said in the stand’