Chaser comedian Julian Morrow returns to court with TV producer over canned ABC show

The consequences of a bitter fallout between once-business partners, veteran TV producer Nicholas Murray and The Chaser’s Julian Morrow, is back in court.

Former Chaser host Julian Morrow. Picture: John Grainger

The bitter fallout between once-business partners, veteran TV producer Nicholas Murray and The Chaser’s Julian Morrow, drags on, as the pair return to court over their cancelled 2018 ABC comedy program and four “angry” emails Mr Murray sent to ABC executives.

Mr Murray – the producer behind Gruen – has launched an appeal over a 2022 Supreme Court finding that he defamed Mr Morrow when he sent multiple emails with “gratuitous comments” to ABC management about his then-collaborator which “gave the impression Mr Morrow was not someone you wanted to be in business with”. In one offending email, he called Mr Morrow “Lord Voldemort”.

He had just discovered TV writer and performer Mr Morrow was renegotiating what was effectively a seventh series of their “on-hiatus” consumer affairs show The Checkout without him, after talking Mr Murray out of his shares in their joint TV production venture, The Checkout Pty Ltd.

Former Chaser host Julian Morrow. Picture: Richard Dobson

The pair had produced six series of The Checkout for the ABC between 2013 and 2018 before the ABC told them in mid-2018 they would shelve the show, and Mr Morrow scurried to change their mind, floating a new consumer affairs show “Are You Being Served?”. The show did not go ahead after Mr Murray failed to sign a deed to release the joint venture company.

On April 13, 2022, Justice James Stevenson found four of the six emails were defamatory and Mr Murray was ordered to pay Mr Morrow $35,000 in damages.

In response to Mr Murray’s recent appeal, Mr Morrow filed a cross-appeal for the entire NSW Supreme Court commercial case against him, which found he had engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct when he failed to inform Mr Murray of his renegotiations with the ABC. The Checkout Pty Ltd was ordered to pay $500,000 to Mr Murray’s company, Cordell Jigsaw Productions Pty Ltd, now CJZ, but not legal costs.

Nick Murray leaves the NSW Supreme Court. Picture: Liam Mendes

Mr Morrow is also appealing the Justice's finding that he engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct in getting Mr Murray to sell his shares in the company. He also argues the Justice was mistaken in finding that Mr Murray was not “actuated by malice” when he wrote the defamatory statements in the emails.

Mr Murray is defending any defamation against Mr Morrow by arguing the ABC had a clear interest in receiving those four emails because it was producing the TV series they related to.

He also argues in the appeal that he was “very angry” after finding out Mr Morrow had “deceived” him out of his shares, and believed it “amounted to fraud upon him”, but that doesn’t mean he was moved to send the emails “by an improper motive”.

Mr Murray, and Cordell Jigsaw Productions, are also appealing the Justice’s failure to grant up to $1.3m in legal fees for the proceedings, which included the successful cross-claim that Mr Morrow had engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct and had breached his duty as director of the joint venture company.

Mr Morrow is asking for $2m in damages for loss of income, including $600,000 in personal income as executive producer on further series of The Checkout.