Following her terrible Logies speech, Lisa Wilkinson’s expensive attorney is now earning $11,000 per day.
The Channel 10 celebrity got into trouble last Sunday when she alluded to alleged rape victim Brittany Higgins in front of over a million viewers while accepting an award.
Her remarks resulted in the rape trial for the former Liberal employee, which was scheduled to begin next week, being postponed until October.
Days following the speech, Dr. Matthew Collins QC, the head of the Australian Bar Association, warned Sunrise that Wilkinson might face a contempt of court charge.
However, Channel 10 recruited the best lawyer to represent Wilkinson shortly after he made his remarks on public air.
One of Australia’s top defamation attorneys, Dr. Collins, helped Rebel Wilson win millions in her 2017 lawsuit against Bauer Media.
The magazine group was found to have defamed the actor in eight articles published in May 2015, alleging that she lied about her identity, age, and upbringing in order to succeed in Hollywood. The actor was granted $4.5 million in damages.
In a well-known defamation lawsuit against the former deputy premier of New South Wales, John Barilaro, Dr. Collins also defended YouTube pioneer Jordan Shanks.
In May 2021, Mr. Barilaro filed a lawsuit against Mr. Shanks, claiming that a slew of films accusing him of perjury had hurt his reputation.
The now-retired MP resolved his Federal Court action with Mr. Shanks in November after receiving an apology and having the videos modified, but Google, the company that owns YouTube, was later found liable for $715,000 in damages.
Leonard Vary, the barrister’s partner and CEO of the Myer Foundation, is well-known for throwing a string of opulent parties at their South Yarra, Melbourne, house.
It’s probable that the authorities would review the speech she gave to the Logies and evaluate it in light of the standards that apply in this area of the law, Dr. Collins remarked on Sunrise.
“That standard is, did everything she did have a propensity to obstruct the course of justice?”
He thought Wilkinson, who has more than 40 years of experience in the media, ought to have known better.
“You would think that the media would be attuned to the possible risks whenever they are contemplating running a story about a serious criminal trial which is about to commence,” Dr. Collins continued.
“The mainstream media understands the risk associated with discussing cases that are going to trial, especially significant high-profile ones.
According to him, there should be no preconceived notions either way because anyone facing a serious charge is entitled to the presumption of innocence.
Therefore, Dr. Collins explained, “the jury just sits and concentrates really keenly on the evidence as it unfolds in the witness box, and puts out of their minds anything which they might have seen in the media, or God forbid and frequently far worse, in social media.”
In response to the “unfair” criticism of Wilkinson, Channel 10 last week said it wouldn’t rule out taking legal action.
According to a network representative, “This reporting is now causing significant harm, and we ask these organizations to cease this harassment to allow Lisa the best opportunity to give her evidence in court and to make it possible for the trial to proceed in a fair and timely manner.”
“We are carefully watching all coverage of this matter, and Lisa and Network 10 reserve their rights with regard to any foreseeable defamation claims,” the statement reads.
Wilkinson’s speech prejudiced potential jurors, which prolonged Higgins’s trial against former political aide Bruce Lehrmann.
Lehrmann has entered a not guilty plea and is accused of raping Ms. Higgins in Parliament House in 2019.
In a police interview, he said he didn’t have sex with Ms. Higgins, refuting these allegations.
The trial was given a new date on Thursday by the ACT Supreme Court: October 4.
Because “somewhere in this debate, the distinction between an untested allegation and the fact of guilt has been lost,” Chief Justice Lucy McCallum decided on Tuesday to postpone the trial. She said she made the decision “regrettably and with gritted teeth.”
On Monday, when Hollywood A-lister Chris Hemsworth will appear, the Channel 10 star will not resume her co-hosting duties on The Project.
As a result of backlash from her Logies acceptance speech on Sunday night, this will be her fourth absence from the air in five days.
According to Network Ten, Wilkinson would stay off-air and return to the well-liked news program sometime the following week.
According to a spokesman for Ten Network, the company “fully supports Lisa in her ongoing and unwavering commitment to acting appropriately as a witness in the trial.”