A former Channel Seven producer has filmed himself smashing a set of his former colleague’s golf clubs before sharing the video with his Instagram followers.
Taylor Auerbach, 32, has accused Mr Lehrmann of leaking confidential documents to Seven, including Brittany Higgins’ private texts, security footage and audio clips – all initially obtained by police during the investigation into Ms Higgins’ rape allegations.
His claims spanned three affidavits, totaling around 2,000 pages, and contained enough evidence for Judge Michael Lee to reopen Lehrmann’s defamation case against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson on Tuesday evening.
Mr Auerbach, who worked with Mr Lehrmann on Seven’s Spotlight program before leaving the network late last year, will testify in the Federal Court on Thursday afternoon.
Now a video has emerged showing Mr. Auerbach smiling broadly as he destroys a set of golf clubs belonging to another former Spotlight producer, Steve Jackson.
The video, which appeared to have been shot in a basement late last year, began with Mr. Auerbach waving cheerfully at the camera.
He stared straight into the lens and clapped a club over his knee, holding the broken stick triumphantly in front of the camera before throwing it to the ground.
He grabbed another one from the bag and grimaced as he struggled to break it in the same way.
When the bat wouldn’t click on his thigh, he tried to hit it on the ground, and then back on his leg, and then into a wall, before finally breaking it when he hit it on the corner of a brick wall.
He waved the broken stick at the camera before the footage ended.
Mr Auerbach then shared the video with his Instagram followers.
It is unclear why he attacked Mr Jackson’s golf clubs, but it is believed there was tension between the two when Mr Auerbach left Spotlight.
Tensions rose in March when Jackson got a job as chief media adviser to NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb.
Within days of that announcement, Mr. Auerbach had accused Mr. Jackson of trying to cover up two $1,000 Thai massages that were allegedly booked for himself and Mr. Lehrmann in November 2022 using a Seven corporate credit card.
At that point, Seven tried to entice Mr Lehrmann to sign the exclusive deal.
There is no indication that Mr. Jackson did anything wrong, and he had nothing to do with arranging the massages or using the company’s credit card.
Mr. Lehrmann denied the situation and called Mr. Auerbach a “disgruntled employee.”
Mr Auerbach then sent Mr Lehrmann a notice of concern, which is the first step in defamation proceedings.
Network Ten used Mr Auerbach’s claims about Mr Lehrmann to request an emergency hearing on Tuesday evening.
Judge Lee was scheduled to rule on the case on Thursday, but that date has been pushed back in light of the new evidence.
Mr Auerbach flew from New Zealand to Sydney on Tuesday evening and was pictured at the airport wearing a see-through black shirt.
He will testify Thursday at 2:15 p.m.