Lisa Wilkinson’s speech at Sydney’s inaugural SXSW festival is cancelled

Lisa Wilkinson’s speech at the first SXSW conference in Sydney has been cancelled.

The Project’s former host was scheduled to speak at the city’s South By Southwest conference last week, which would have been available only to those willing to pay $1,295 for passes.

Wilkinson’s photo and lengthy profile were key features on the site’s list of speakers, which included Nicole Kidman.

However, Wilkinson’s name has since disappeared from the program completely.

On Friday, a spokesperson for SXSW told Daily Mail Australia: “Lisa Wilkinson’s session appears to have been cancelled.”

Wilkinson’s photo and tall profile were key features of the list of speakers at the conference (pictured)

SXSW has traditionally been held in Austin, Texas, since the event launched in 1987, but this year marked the first time it was held outside North America.

Sydney was chosen as the location where the event kicked off last Sunday and consisted of conferences, showcases, music acts and film.

The reason for Wilkinson’s canceled address has not been confirmed, and what she wanted to talk about is unclear, but her now-deleted biography on the festival website suggests the intention was to admire her career highlights.

“Lisa’s story is much more complex than many would imagine,” her profile read.

“Lisa is one of Australia’s most admired and respected media personalities.

‘Her warm, intelligent and elegant presence has graced our television screens for more than 25 years now.’

The profile also credits Wilkinson as a mentor to lifestyle editors Mia Freedman and Deborah Thomas, saying she was “instrumental in discovering a then-unknown Nicole Kidman and giving the 15-year-old her very first magazine cover.” .

Pictured: Nicole Kidman speaking at the ‘Spotlight on Blossom Films’ session at SXSW Sydney on October 19

It was also noted that she is a Member of the Order of Australia and ‘Academy Award-winning Journalist’.

Wilkinson won the TV award in June last year for an interview on The Project in 2021, when Brittany Higgins first publicly alleged she was raped by Bruce Lehrmann at Parliament House in 2019.

Her winning speech was heavily criticized for implying that Ms Higgins’ rape allegations were true. Mr Lehrmann has consistently denied the allegations and was due to be tried in court just days later.

The ACT’s chief justice moved the hearing to October because he feared Wilkinson’s speech would spoil a jury, making it impossible for him to get a fair trial.

Wilkinson has been noticeably absent from television screens since November last year.

The canceled keynote marks her second canceled speaking engagement in two months.

She was due to speak about her “extraordinary success” to a crowd of female entrepreneurs at the Albury Commercial Club in regional NSW on November 11.

However, she was replaced by singer and comedian Em Ruciano.

Wilkinson’s name disappeared from the program completely. Her event was canceled (photo, people at SXSW Sydney)

The event would have lasted less than two weeks before she was due to appear in Sydney Federal Court for Mr Lehrmann’s month-long defamation hearing against her and Network Ten.

The defamation lawsuit is based on her interview with Brittany Higgins on The Project.

Lehrmann was not named, but claims that people in political circles were able to identify him as the alleged rapist.

Wilkinson opted to hire her own team of defamation specialists, rather than using Thomson Geer – the retainer company her employer, Channel 10, has.

Instead, she hired top lawyer Sur Chrysanthou SC and Gillis Delaney Law partner Anthony Jefferies to defend her in the trial.

She has racked up a bill worth more than $700,000 and is now suing Channel 10 in the NSW Supreme Court over claims the network failed to cover her legal costs.