Lisa Wilkinson under fire over Brittany Higgins ‘coaching’ claims as Peter Ford weighs in

Entertainment reporter Peter Ford has launched a scathing attack on Lisa Wilkinson and her pre-interview meeting with Brittany Higgins.

Bruce Lehrmann, speaking out for the first time, revealed on Sunday evening what he really thought about Ms Higgins’ rape allegations against him.

He broke his two-year media silence in an interview with 7News Spotlight, with Liam Bartlett grilling him about his version of events.

Ms Higgins claims she was raped by Mr Lehrmann in the House of Parliament after a night out in 2019. Mr. Lehrmann has always maintained his innocence.

The Channel Seven program featured part of a recording of a five-hour lunch shared between Wilkinson and Ms Higgins days before the former staffer made her allegations against Mr Lehrmann in an interview on The Project in February 2021.

Mrs Higgins’ friend, David Sharaz, asked Wilkinson what she expected from the interview, before Wilkinson finally replied, ‘I don’t want to put words in your mouth’.

The recording came under scrutiny on Monday morning with Sunrise presenter Natalie Barr questioning whether Wilkinson had coached Ms Higgins.

Ford claimed that Wilkinson had crossed a line and weighed in on the debate over whether Wilkinson could lose the Logie she was given for the interview.

Ms Higgins and her boyfriend David Sharaz had a five-hour luncheon with Wilkinson and Channel 10 producer Angus Llewellyn a few days prior to her interview on The Project on 15 February 2021 – when she first made her rape allegations.

The luncheon was taped and then played back during the Sunday night Spotlight special.

Mr Sharaz also asked Wilkinson what she wanted to get out of the interview, to which she replied: ‘The inequality that exists there, whether it’s white privilege, whether it’s male dominance, or you know criminal activity is suppressed.

‘I’m a girl from the Western Suburbs of Sydney. I will always be motivated by exactly the same thing. People who deserve to be heard, not to be heard.’

“I don’t want to put words in your mouth, but if you can explain that this place is about suppressing people’s natural sense of justice.”

Sunrise host Natalie Barr asked Ford, “Was that coaching or was that a journalist speaking for the interview?”

“Yeah, it’s a thin line, isn’t it,” Ford replied.

“But in general I think if someone says, I don’t want to put words in your mouth, that’s exactly what they want to do.”

In the recording, the group could be heard laughing and joking about the inner workings of Parliament House, taking the surname of a former colleague, and calling Mr Lehrmann a ‘predator’ – despite the unproven allegations.

Ford said that although the conversation was recorded over five hours, “there’s a fine line between relaxing (one interviewee) and giving them some confidence, especially when you’re dealing with something as intimate as this story.”

CCTV footage from a bar shows Ms Higgins (left) and Mr Lehrmann (right) on 22 March 2019 – the night she claimed he raped her

“But certainly in the various grabs that were shown, it crossed that line to where it seemed like Lisa was coaching Brittany about what she should say.”

Ford said there were “very clear examples” of Ms. Higgins being coached and that “it just looked really bad.”

“It looks bad to the audience that sees that and they look at it and think there’s something really bad about it,” he said.

The entertainment reporter said Sunday night’s Spotlight episode was “a remarkable piece of television, but from Lisa Wilkinson’s point of view, it looked really bad.”

‘Of course you want to assure the talent (interviewee) that you are going to do the right thing. But it seemed that boundaries were being crossed and it seemed that she was coaching Brittany,” he said.

Barr also asked Ford if Wilkinson could get back the Logie award she had won for her interview with Ms. Higgins.

“Walley Awards can certainly be revoked,” he replied. “I can’t think of an example where a Logie Award has been withdrawn.

“But time will tell, I think people are waiting to see how the current situation plays out,” Ford said.

During the criminal trial in the ACT Supreme Court last year, Ms Higgins was questioned about the five-hour conversation.

Natalie Barr (left) asked Peter Ford (right) if the Logie award Lisa Wilkinson won for her interview with Britanny Higgins could be taken back

“That wasn’t the actual interview itself and I didn’t sign a stat dec [statutory declaration] on this. This is just us talking,’ she said.

Mr Lehrmann was tried in October last year at a 12-day hearing, but was overturned after a juror brought banned literature to the court.

Shane Drumgold, ACT’s Director of Public Prosecutions, dropped the case altogether in December over concerns about Ms Higgins’ mental health.

Channel 10 said it had no comment on this story.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Lisa Wilkinson for comment.