Spotlight executive producer Mark Llewellyn leaves Seven after Bruce Lehrmann/Taylor Auerbach scandal

Mark Llewellyn, who has been at the helm of Seven’s flagship current affairs program Spotlight since 2020, has left the network after the Bruce Lehrmann/Taylor Auerbach expenses scandal.

Spotlight executive producer Mark Llewellyn is understood to have handed in his company security pass on Wednesday night and will not be returning. Picture: Adam Taylor

The executive producer of Seven’s scandal-plagued Spotlight is leaving the network.

Mark Llewellyn, who has been at the helm of Seven’s flagship current affairs program since 2020, is understood to have handed in his company security pass on Wednesday night and will not be returning.

The industry veteran has hired employment lawyer John Laxon to negotiate his termination package with Seven management.

Llewellyn is the first Spotlight staffer to depart Seven in the wake of the scandal that enveloped the program earlier this month, when the show’s ex-producer Taylor Auerbach claimed the media company reimbursed accused rapist Bruce Lehrmann for the cost of sex workers and cocaine before he signed an exclusive interview deal with the network.

Spotlight’s interview with Lehrmann aired in June 2023.

Network insiders have told The Australian that Llewellyn, who was spotted in Seven’s Eveleigh offices in inner Sydney on Wednesday, might not be the only figure to depart Seven as the Spotlight scandal shakes out, and the media company tries to rebuild its battered reputation.

Seven vehemently denies that it subsidised Lehrmann’s alleged activities, or had any corporate knowledge of them.

In November 2022, Auerbach sent a text message to Llewellyn to offer his resignation after confessing that he’d racked up $10,000 worth of dubious expenses on the company credit card.

In the message, Auerbach admitted the expenses “had nothing to do with work”, but made no mention of Lehrmann’s involvement.

Auerbach’s resignation was not accepted at the time and he did not leave Seven until the following year, when his contract expired and was not renewed.

It’s understood that the decision to not dismiss Auerbach after he admitted to the misuse of expenses is a point of conjecture surrounding Llewellyn’s departure and his termination package.

It’s understood Llewellyn denies that it was his call to keep Auerbach on Seven’s books.

The Australian has been told that Spotlight staff have been “kept completely in the dark” about Llewellyn’s departure.

“No one in management has spoken to them,” a source said, adding that many in the Spotlight team believe Llewellyn is the “fall guy” for the scandal.

Spotlight is scheduled to air its first episode of the year this Sunday. It will feature an investigation into weight loss drug Ozempic, hosted by journalist Michael Usher.

On Thursday afternoon, Llewellyn posted pictures on his Instagram account, saying he is “out of town” and “on the long planned rugby trip”. He could not be reached for comment.

Lehrmann was among those who liked Llewellyn’s social media post on Thursday.

Seven news boss Craig McPherson didn’t respond to messages on Thursday and a spokesman for the media company did not return calls from The Australian.

Seven’s chief executive officer James Warburton is departing the media company on April 18, having announced in December his intention to resign. The network’s chief financial officer Jeff Howard will succeed him.

Originally published as Spotlight executive producer Mark Llewellyn leaves Seven after Bruce Lehrmann/Taylor Auerbach scandal