Shock twist in footy ‘d*** pic’ scandal as Carlton boss Luke Sayers is sued by wife for defamation

Luke Sayers is facing a defamation lawsuit from his estranged wife, Cate Sayers, according to a new report. 

The Australian Financial Review claims that Sayers has been accused by his wife of implying that she was responsible for posting a lewd photo on his social media account in January last year. 

The outlet adds that the claim by Luke was allegedly made in a statutory declaration that had been provided to the AFL Commission’s integrity unit last year.

Filings made at Victoria’s Supreme Court by Cate also allege that Luke has made ‘damaging’ comments about her mental health. 

A spokesperson for Cate, confirmed a defamation lawsuit was filed on Tuesday, but did not disclose the details. 

Sayers stepped down from his role as Carlton president in January 2025 after a lewd image had been published on his X account on January 8. 

The post had tagged a female executive from Bupa, one of Carlton’s lead sponsors. 

Sayers vehemently denied that he had posted the image, claiming his account had been hacked. 

It had later emerged that Bupa cancelled its naming rights arrangement for the team’s Run for Respect charity event in February. It was later confirmed that Bupa would continue its relationship with the club, but had added: ‘Bupa continues to prioritise the wellbeing, privacy and safety of our employee.’

The former PwC executive was later cleared by the AFL’s Integrity Unit but opted to step down from his role with the AFL club.

Carlton had appointed Christopher Townsend KC to lead an investigation into the matter, but closed the matter later after Sayers had resigned. 

In April, it was revealed that Cate had left Luke in the wake of the lewd photo saga. 

It came after the former Carlton executive was spotted on a dinner date with a mystery blonde woman. He was pictured with the unnamed woman at Melbourne’s Geppetto Trattoria restaurant and had put plans in place to buy a new apartment close to the city centre.

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for his estranged wife, confirmed that a claim had been lodged against her husband.

‘We can confirm that proceedings have been commenced in the Supreme Court of Victoria,’ the spokesperson told the Australian Financial Review. 

‘As the matter is now before the court, it would be inappropriate to comment further.’ 

There is no suggestion by Daily Mail that Sayers had blamed Cate for posting the lewd photo. There is also no suggestion that Cate was responsible for publishing the photograph on X. 

A friend of the Sayers family said Cate Sayers left her husband in order to put their children first after the publication of the graphic sexual image on January 9.

‘Cate is a strong person, but also a realist,’ one of her friends told NewsCorp.

‘She has understandably prioritised protecting the family. Now she knows it is the right time for a fresh start.’ 

Sayers quit his post with the Blues effective immediately on January 22, with the announcement coming just minutes after the AFL Integrity Unit found he was not responsible for the sending of the sexual image.

Sayers noticed the development after the photo had been online for 12 minutes, at which point he hastily deleted the image and apologised to his followers, stating he had been targeted by cyber criminals.

‘Sorry, my account has been hacked – please ignore all posts,’ he wrote.

The father-of-four’s account, which had more than 7,300 followers, was deleted but the post had already been reposted and screen-grabbed by other X users.

He told Daily Mail he was ‘outraged’ by the alleged attack when the news first broke.

‘This is outrageous. I’m investigating and will leave no stone unturned in finding out who did this to me and my family,’ he said.

Sayers had been with the club for 12 years before stepping down.

The AFL and Carlton later said his account was compromised and no further investigation would take place.

In addition to quitting as Blues president, Sayers also announced he would step back as chairman of his consulting company, Sayers Group – but at the time of writing, he is still listed as chairman on the business’s website.

Daily Mail has contacted Luke for comment.