Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial: Channel Ten has ‘zero interest’ in bringing back Lisa Wilkinson despite court victory

Lisa Wilkinson may have been vindicated after winning the defamation case brought against her by Bruce Lehrmann – but she won’t be making a triumphant return to Channel Ten anytime soon.

The former host of The Project was reportedly met with ‘zero interest’ when she asked to be interviewed on Ten’s flagship current affairs show after Justice Michael Lee handed down his verdict last Monday.

Justice Lee’s finding that Mr Lehrmann raped Brittany Higgins in Parliament House in 2019 was a victory for Network Ten and Wilkinson’s truth defence – even though The Project’s assertions of a ‘political cover-up’ were found to have been baseless.

Ten described the result as a ‘triumph of truth’. Wilkinson, who had sought separate legal counsel because she did not trust the network to act in her best interests, told the press pack outside the court: ‘Today, the Federal Court has found that I published a true story about a rape in a federal minister’s office in March of 2019.’

But the shared victory for Ten and Wilkinson has done little to thaw the ice.

A source told news.com.au the result has not paved the way for Wilkinson to return to her hosting role on The Project or appear as a guest to discuss the verdict. 

‘Lisa thinking she could just go back on air… after she burnt everyone on that show. It’s just so far from reality that it’s not funny,’ a network insider told the outlet. 

The insider claimed Wilkinson had displayed a ‘me, me, me’ attitude outside the courtroom, demonstrated by failing to mention Ms Higgins.

It’s understood network staff were hurt by Wilkinson’s testimony at the trial, which appeared to lay responsibility for production of the Higgins’ story on other members of The Project team. 

‘Lisa claimed all of the credit for the Brittany Higgins story during her speech at the Logies [in 2022], backflipped in court and threw her colleagues under the bus claiming she was nothing more than autocue reader, before another stunning backflip on the steps of the courthouse again claiming credit for the story,’ the source said.

Network executives are said to want ‘nothing’ to do with Wilkinson, who continues to be paid an estimated salary of $1.7million until her contract ends in December.

‘She has burnt everyone,’ the source said. ‘She’s never coming back.’ 

Relations between Wilkinson and the network deteriorated after she engaged her own legal counsel, Sue Chrysanthou SC, to represent her in the case instead of using Channel Ten’s lawyers.

The network argued in the midst of the trial there was no need for Wilkinson to hire her own legal counsel, claiming her case would be a duplicate of the network’s case and it was therefore unnecessary for her to hire Ms Chrysanthou.

Eventually Justice Lee ordered Ten to cover Wilkinson’s legal fees, but only in relation to her civil case against her employer.

The veteran broadcaster and the network were also at odds after Wilkinson’s now-infamous speech at the Logies in June 2022.   

The court heard during the trial that Wilkinson was devastated over the fallout following the speech because she was personally accused of derailing Mr Lehrmann’s criminal trial.

The court heard Network Ten CEO Beverley McGarvey approved the speech, along with the head of public relations and senior litigator Tasha Smithies.

‘But I was the one accused of derailing the rape case,’ Wilkinson told the court.

‘I was being portrayed as legally irresponsible. I had taken significant actions to make sure that speech was legally responsible before I went anywhere near that stage.’

After Mr Lehrmann’s rape trial was moved from June to October 2022 as a result of the speech, Ten issued a statement: ‘Both Network 10 and Lisa Wilkinson take their legal obligations very seriously, including in the preparation and delivery of her speech given at the Logies event.’

Wilkinson said in court: ‘What was missing from Ten’s public statements was that they approved that speech at the highest levels.’

‘The conclusion was the media believed I had gotten up on that stage and given a speech off the top of my head with no consideration given to legal proceedings.

‘That was incorrect and I was being blamed for giving that speech and all the blame was falling on me.’

She was shocked and confused that her employer refused to publicly detail the advice she received.

In his judgement Justice Lee singled out Network Ten’s chief litigation counsel, Ms Smithies, over the advice she provided to Wilkinson before giving the Logies speech, observing it ‘defied common sense’.

Daily Mail Australia contacted Wilkinson’s management for comment.