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Bruce Lehrmann gives ABC 28 days to remove a ‘malicious’ video from YouTube, after suing Channel 10 and news.com.au over Brittany Higgins’ allegations.
- Bruce Lehrmann demands ABC remove a video
- It’s the full address of Brittany Higgins’ National Press Club.
- His lawyers say the video is ‘extremely defamatory’
Bruce Lehrmann has given ABC 28 days to remove a video of Brittany Higgins’ National Press Club speech from his YouTube channel and apologize to her before taking legal action.
Ms Higgins addressed the National Press Club in February 2022 alongside 2021 Australian of the Year Grace Tame to advocate for sexual assault reform.
While Ms Higgins did not name the former Liberal staffer in her speech, Mr Lehrmann’s lawyers, Mark O’Brien Legal, claim their client was identifiable to onlookers due to extensive reporting on the rape allegations. of Mrs. Higgins against him.
His lawyers claim that the broadcast of the speech was “a malicious and seemingly contemptuous attempt by ABC to prejudice the jury.”
Higgins alleged that Lehrmann raped her in Parliament in March 2019.
Mr Lehrmann repeatedly and vehemently denied the allegations and an ACT Supreme Court trial centering on Ms Higgins’ claim was aborted in October last year after a juror brought out-of-trial materials to the deliberation room.
Bruce Lehrmann (above) has threatened to sue ABC if it doesn’t remove his YouTube video of Brittany Higgins’ National Press Club speech from last February.
Lehrmann pleaded not guilty and the charges against him were dropped after prosecutors determined that a second trial would pose too great a risk to Higgins’ mental health.
The National Press Club speech was widely shared among the Australian media, but ABC was the only publication to share it in full.
Lehrmann also demands that ABC apologize for sharing the video and pay compensation.
The notice to ABC cites specific claims made by Ms. Higgins during her speech, including: “I was [allegedly] raped on a sofa in what I thought was the most secure building in Australia.
‘In a workplace that has a 24/7 security and police presence. Australia’s parliament is safe, it’s safe, except if you’re a woman.
Her lawyers said Ms Higgins’ claim was “seriously and indefensibly defamatory”.
“Furthermore, posting to such a large number of people had the effect of seriously damaging (Mr. Lehrmann’s) reputation in the ACT among potential jurors by letting them know he was guilty of the very crime he was charged with,” they said. .
Brittany Higgins (pictured Grace Tame at the National Press Club) alleges that Mr Lehrmann raped her at Parliament House in March 2019
It is understood that Mr. Lehrmann was not notified of Ms. Higgins’ claims and was not given an opportunity to respond to her allegations.
It has given ABC 28 days to remove the video before it “initiates proceedings immediately.”
As of Thursday morning, the video remains available on ABC’s channel and has logged more than 126,000 views in the 11 months it has been live.
The notice comes just one day after Mr Lehrmann filed libel suits against Channel 10 and news.com.au in Federal Court.
The two media giants were the first publications to detail Ms Higgins’ allegations.
There are two cases, one against Network 10 over an interview broadcast on The Project in February 2021, where Ms Higgins claimed to presenter Lisa Wilkinson that she was allegedly raped by “a male colleague” at Parliament House in 2019.
The second is against News Life Media, an umbrella company of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, which runs news.com.au, for coverage featuring the same allegations as Ms Higgins.
Mr. Lehrmann was not named during the television show nor was he publicly identified as Ms. Higgins’ alleged rapist until August 2021, when he was formally charged with sexual assault.