Taylor Auerbach takes centre stage in Bruce Lehrmann defamation case

Comment: Taylor Auerbach has a knack for injecting himself into the middle of a scandal, and this week the former Channel 7 producer took centre stage in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against Channel 10 and Lisa Wilkinson.

The biggest court case in Australia has become The Taylor Auerbach Show.

The former Channel 7 producer returned to the witness box in the Bruce Lehrmann defamation case in the Federal Court of Australia on Friday and continued his path of destruction that had some of Australia’s most powerful media identities terrified about what he would say.

Since he started as a copy kid at The Sunday Telegraph more than a decade ago, Auerbach has a knack for injecting himself into the middle of a scandal.

That has seen him call out Millionaire Hot Seat host Eddie McGuire for not giving him a job, and bag a former employer in the media for their workplace practices.

It’s the same play which has made Auerbach the star attraction in the defamation case between Bruce Lehrmann and Ten.

A still from a video posted to social media of Taylor Auerbach breaking former friend Steve Jackson’s golf clubs. Picture: Instagram

This time he had a bar table full of Australia’s most expensive barristers lining up for the chance to discredit him in cross-examination, accusing him of being malicious, a liar, or simply too drunk to have a reliable recollection of events.

Stepping out of the witness box before the 1pm lunch break, if Auerbach was worried, he wasn’t showing it.

Auerbach leaving the Federal Court on Friday. Picture: Nikki Short

Bruce Lehrmann. Picture: David Swift

“I’m going great,” Auerbach told The Saturday Telegraph outside the court when asked how he was holding up.

With a slap on the shoulder from his lawyer, Rebekah Giles, he hit the elevator.

If his cross-examination is to be believed, Auerbach’s motives are questionable at best (read: revenge on a former employee that has spilt into the Lehrmann case).

Justice Michael Lee said as much in court on Friday.

Still, Auerbach had Seven’s most powerful media executives and identities terrified about what he might say, all legally protected by courtroom privilege.

Yesterday, sidelined star Lisa Wilkinson, who is the second defendant to the proceedings that are over her 2021 interview with Brittany Higgins, sat in the front row of the level 22 courtroom taking notes after Auerbach detailed his explosive evidence.

Viewer numbers on the Federal Court’s YouTube stream for the hearing nudged 30,000.

Steve Jackson (left) with Auerbach in friendlier times.

Spotlight executive producer Mark Llewellyn (left) and Auerbach. Picture: Instagram

This week, Auerbach claimed he used a company credit card to pay Thai masseuses for Lehrmann in the period where he was trying to get the ex-political staffer over the line for an interview with Seven’s Spotlight.

He also claimed Lehrmann was reimbursed for cocaine, and leaked evidence from the rape case to Spotlight’s executive producer Mark Llewellyn.

There were lighter moments on Friday, including a video of Mr Llewellyn wringing out a wet towel with Boney M’s Rivers Of Babylon as a soundtrack.

A snappily dressed Auerbach hauls his dry cleaning home. Picture: John Appleyard

Auerbach told the court the video gave context to the one shown a day earlier that featured him destroying a set of golf clubs that belonged to his former friend and boss at Spotlight, Steve Jackson.

Auerbach’s dispute with Jackson saw him leak damaging information about his former friend, which resulted in Jackson losing his job as the media adviser to Police Commissioner Karen Webb.

One of the leaks was that a Seven credit card was used to pay for a Thai masseuse for Lehrmann.

When Lehrmann denied the story and said it was from a “disgruntled” ex-producer, Auerbach retaliated and became a witness in Lehrmann’s defamation case.

Since then, Auerbach has held the world’s shortest press conference and flown into Australia wearing a nipple-exposing shirt before appearing the next day in a Steve Jobs turtleneck and white shoe combo.

The big risk for Auerbach is that his scorched-earth approach will render him unemployable.

His mental health records are now evidence in the case.

The court heard on Friday that Auerbach’s alcohol consumption during the period he was courting Lehrmann was off the charts — allegedly 30 standard drinks a day.

Barrister Matthew Richardson SC told the court the quantity of alcohol was “so astonishing” that he was ­surprised it “wouldn’t affect (Auerbach’s) recollection of events”.

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