As the aftermath from Lisa Wilkson’s contentious Logies speech enters its second week, a prominent conservative commentator has launched an astonishing attack on the “woke princess.”
After discussing alleged rape victim Brittany Higgins and her case and accepting the Outstanding News Coverage award for her one-on-one interview with the former ministerial worker, The Project co-host is anticipated to stay off-air for several weeks.
The rape trial, which was supposed to begin next week, had to be postponed until October as a result of Logies’ remarks, and Wilkinson may now face a contempt of court charge.
High-profile columnist Janet Albrechtsen has added to the escalating barrage of criticism of Wilkinson coming from present and former coworkers, rivals, and public commenters.
When she chimed in on the ongoing controversy on Monday about whether the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions should charge the Network Ten personality, the opinion writer didn’t hold back.
If Wilkinson is not prosecuted, it raises the question of whether a woke princess is held to a different standard. When writing for The Australian, Albrechtsen.
Would the ACT DPP treat a conservative journalist the same way?
The ‘destructive zealotry’ of media trials of claimed sexual assault cases, she continued, can be stopped in one method that will make media vigilantes ‘pull their heads in’
Albrechtsen penned, “Prosecute those who obstruct the administration of justice.”
“The rule of law” states that everyone is entitled to a fair trial, regardless of their status as a politician, celebrity, or regular citizen.
When commenting on a NSW Court of Appeal decision to give a new trial for his close friend and High Court judge Lionel Murphy, who was at the time accused of attempting to pervert the course of justice, Albrechtsen referenced the example of the late NSW Premier Neville Wran in the 1980s.
Wran was sentenced to a $25,000 fine after being found guilty of obstructing the administration of justice.
Since giving her terrible Logies address a week ago, Wilkinson has not appeared on-air.
She is anticipated to be off-air for a “minimum of three weeks,” but insiders say she will continue to work on “investigative and human interest” projects.
The network has stated that it “completely supports Lisa Wilkinson,” and they have appointed well-known attorney Matthew Collins to speak on their behalf.
Since then, the network and Wilkinson, 62, have vowed to keep their comments about the matter to themselves.
The media veteran’s Logies statement prejudiced prospective jurors, which prolonged Higgins’s trial against former political aide Bruce Lehrmann.
In 2019, Lehrmann is charged of raping Ms. Higgins in front of Parliament.
In a police interview, he said he didn’t have sex with Ms. Higgins, refuting these allegations.
Since then, the trial has been rescheduled for October 4 by the ACT Supreme Court.