Crikey apologises to Brittany Higgins over Guy Rundle article

A controversial media company has apologised to its readers and to Brittany Higgins over an article written by one of its biggest contributors.

Crikey has apologised to Brittany Higgins and to its revolted readers over an opinion piece written by one of its top journalists.

The article by Guy Rundle titled “The Brittany Higgins case: we’re not required to leave our brains at the security entrance” sparked furore online after it demanded that the settlement paid to Brittany Higgins be revealed to the public.

The news publication has decided to remove the piece over incorrect statements and the article’s tone.

Ms Higgins reached a confidential settlement with the federal government after she alleged she had been raped inside Parliament House.

The article by Guy Rundle contained two errors and ‘did not meet Crikey's journalistic standards’.

Ms Higgins responded to the article, calling it ‘disgusting’. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

“We apologise to Brittany Higgins and our readers and we will update you on a continuing conversation around this issue,” Crikey’s editors said in a statement

The first issue with the piece was the assertion that the consultation process for Brittany Higgins’ compensation was “stunningly rapid”.

“That is not correct – Higgins lodged her claim in March 2022 while the Morrison government was still in office, and it was not settled until December 2022, seven months after the election of the current government,” they said.

The second “false assertion” was that the amount paid to Ms Higgins is “believed to be $3 million”.

Ms Higgins has said herself that the figure was not near $3 million, calling it “just plain wrong” and threatening to take legal action against media outlets who repeated that figure.

“There is no factual basis for the $3 million figure; Higgins has publicly said that figure was her initial claim but that the final figure was much lower than that,” the editors acknowledged.

“In addition to these factual errors, the tone of the piece did not meet Crikey’s journalistic standards, crucially given that it concerns writing about allegations of sexual assault.”

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Ms Higgins herself responded to the article, taking particular issue with the title.

“Wow. Pithy but disgusting given the context,” she said on Twitter.

Her partner David Sharaz also slammed the piece, asking Crikey’s chief executive, Will Hayward, if he was “happy with this victim-blaming bile being on your website?”

Mr Hayward responded to Mr Sharaz, saying he was not okay with the piece.

“We would like to unconditionally apologise,” he said.

Hundreds of Crikey’s readers took to social media to denounce the publication, sharing that they had decided to give up their $200 a year subscription.

“The tweet that lost a thousand angry subscribers … ” one reader said.

“I just cancelled my subscription. That’s $199.00 you are not getting in August from me. No way I’m paying for that sort of crap,” another said.

Originally published as Crikey apologises to Brittany Higgins over Guy Rundle article