Hatred and a whole lotta drinks: All the Taylor Auerbach evidence

An ex-producer’s account of babysitting Bruce Lehrmann on ‘fewer than 30 drinks a day’. Read all the Taylor Auerbach evidence for yourself.

A plate of cocaine and a search for sex workers – paid for by Network Seven for the benefit of Bruce Lehrmann.

That’s the allegation made in court on Thursday by Taylor Auerbach, a former producer at Seven who says he has spent recent weeks backgrounding journalists about Lehrmann and his former colleagues at Seven, whom he says he hates.

He’s been subjected to tough cross-examination by counsel for Bruce Lehrmann, Richardson SC, who put it to Auerbach he was prepared to say anything, no matter how false, to damage his former colleagues at Seven.

Auerbach denied this.

Lehrmann has denied any wrongdoing.

Taylor Auerbach was the producer assigned by Seven to build a rapport with Bruce Lehrmann in 2022.

But by the time their interview with Lehrmann aired in June 2023, Auerbach says he had been largely sidelined from the story.

He left the Seven in August 2023, and signed a confidential deed with the network, claiming he’d suffered a psychological injury while working there.

In court on Thursday, his solicitor Rebekah Giles said Auerbach’s claim against Seven included allegations of sustained bullying and anti-Semitism.

The detail of that claim hasn’t been aired in court – but Auerbach had plenty of other bombshells to drop.

The ‘plate of cocaine’

Auerbach described an evening in January 2023 when he and Lehrmann had dinner at a Potts Point restaurant called Franca, then took a taxi to the Meriton in Sydney city.

Here’s what Auerbach told Matt Collins, KC, counsel for Network Ten.

Auerbach: “Channel 7 had put Bruce up at the Meriton for what he described as a ‘coming down to Sydney to unwind’ kind of trip. And I had been reappointed to be his babysitter, minder, looking after him. Building up a rapport, and trying to build trust with a prospective interview subject.”

“Mr Lehrmann had, over dinner, purchased a bag of cocaine while we were dining at Franca. And when we got upstairs to the room, he pulled that out and started to put it on a plate.

“And then started talking to me about a prospective Spotlight story and his desire to order prostitutes to the Meriton that night, and began googling a series of websites to try and make that happen. During that conversation he agreed to be in a Spotlight interview – as long as we didn’t ask him about what happen on the night in Canberra.”

Collins: “What did you say?”

Auerbach: “I was taken aback and so I – um, It jumped out at me as quite concerning, so I put it to him we would have to ask him hard questions about the night in Canberra, given that was the whole purpose of the Spotlight investigation and continued to chat with him.”

Collins asked if there was any discussion about payment for the services Lehrmann was talking about.

Auerbach: “I told Mr Lehrmann I didn’t have the means to be able to pay for the activities that he would like to engage in, and he said that he would pay.”

Auerbach said he messaged his boss.

Auerbach: “During the course of the night I had begun texting Mr Steve Jackson – who was my boss – telling him I was concerned this was happening again, following the events of November 26. I told him I was scared and I told him Bruce was on the warpath again, and it was no anomaly. And, if you don’t mind me swearing, Your Honour, I think I used the words ‘this is fucked’.”

Auerbach said Lehrmann then asked for payment.

Auerbach: “At the conclusion of that trip he got in touch with me to say that his bank account was dry after the – for want of a better word – “bender”. And asked if there was a way that we’d be able to compensate him for that. The plan was that he would issue an invoice for per diems that would be paid for by Seven. I recall seeing the invoice, which was sent to either me or the unit manager or both of us. But it was an invoice for the period covering that trip in Sydney.”

Auerbach said he was later told by Lehrmann the invoice had been paid.

Counsel for Lehrmann, Richardson: “I want to suggest to you that those expenses were not reimbursed. There were no per diems paid. This didn’t happen.”

Auerbach: “It did.”

Llewellyn obtained the material too

The reason Taylor Auerbach is in court is that he alleges Seven’s source for much of the material in its story was Bruce Lehrmann himself.

Ten, which is defending itself against Lehrmann’s lawsuit, says Lerhmann could only have obtained the documents from an earlier court case – the aborted criminal trial of Lehrmann for the alleged sexual assault of Brittany Higgins, something Lehrmann denies.

Ten says if Lehrmann did hand over the documents, that’s a breach of court rules and means the whole defamation case should be thrown out.

Richardson put it to Auerbach that whatever documents he claimed to have, in fact it was executive producer Mark Llewellyn who obtained much of the material used in the story, including the five-hour pre-interview meeting between Higgins and Ten’s journalists.

Auerbach agreed Llewellyn had obtained the material – and conceded he didn’t know where it came from.

Auerbach was asked about a separate event where he claims sex workers were involved. This began as a lunch at a restaurant in Sydney’s Paddington called Cipri on 26 November 2022. He said it included himself, Spotlight executive producer Mark Llewellyn, Bruce Lehrmann and someone he described as Lehrmann’s ‘media minder’, John MacGowan.

Later that night, after Llewellyn left, Auerbach says he put more than $10,000 worth of Thai massages on a company credit card.

It’s earlier been revealed the charges came as a surprise to Seven, which ordered him to pay back the money.

This is part of the beef between Auerbach and Lehrmann. After these allegations were first published in March, Lehrmann denied any involvement in the massage situation and described Auerbach as a disgruntled ex producer.

Auerbach then threatened to sue Lehrmann.

Now, he’s become the star witness for Ten in its defence against Lehrmann.

In court on Thursday, Richardson tendered a letter in which Auerbach offered his resignation to his bosses at Seven the morning after the massage charges.

In the letter, Auerbach said: ‘In a drunken daze I put thousands and thousands on a credit card for something that had nothing to do with work.’

Richardson asked why, if he told Seven and, later a psychologist, that the expenses had nothing to do with work, he was now claiming they were related to Bruce Lehrmann.

Auerbach: “That morning was the worst morning of my life. Probably when I sent that email. I was very emotional. I was trying to give both Seven and, in some ways, Mr. Lehrmann, protection.

Justice Michael Lee asked whether he had lied to his employer in the email.

Auerbach said it was not a lie.

Auerbach: “That was my mind state at the time.

In cross-examination Richardson asked: “Now, Mr Auerbach, it was seriously dishonest of you to put those expenses on a corporate credit card, wasn’t it?”

Auerbach: “ I’m struggling with the word dishonest. But it was wrong.”

Richardson: “ “Well it’s dishonest, isn’t it, to use company money for what you were doing that evening?”

Auerbach: “Yes, that is wrong.

Richardson asked if Auerbach’s motive now was to humiliate Bruce Lehrmann.

Auerbach said that was wrong – and he claimed that Seven didn’t accept his resignation, but in fact offered him a promotion and a pay rise after the Thai massage episode.

Seven fires back

On Thursday evening Seven released a statement rejecting all Auerbach’s assertions.

“Seven is appalled by the allegations made in recent days. We do not condone the behaviours described in these allegations. They do not reflect the culture of Seven.

Seven did not offer a promotion or pay rise to Mr Auerbach in November 2022, nor did it do so at any time after that

Seven did not reimburse Bruce Lehrmann for expenditure that has allegedly been used to pay for illegal drugs or prostitutes, and has never done so.

Seven has at no point asked anyone to delete or destroy evidence.

The person involved admitted to the misuse of a Seven corporate card and all unauthorised expenses were immediately reimbursed. Seven has acted appropriately at all times,” Seven’s statement read.

Smashing an ex-mate’s golf clubs

The court was played a video in which Auerbach destroys the golf clubs of a colleague and former friend, Steve Jackson. In the video, Auerbach snaps some clubs over his knee and pounds others against a wall, grimacing at the camera. The caption for the video, which he posted to Instagram, reads ‘Merry Christmas. Sue me’.

Auerbach said the video was a parody of an earlier video made by Spotlight’s executive producer Mark Llewellyn.

But he admitted he hated Steve Jackson, and had been backgrounding journalists about Jackson in recent weeks.

Richardson: “When you left Channel Seven, you held great resentment against the organisation and against Mr. Jackson and Mr. Llewellyn, didn’t you?”

Auerbach: “No, nothing against seven, against Llewellyn and Jackson, yes.”

Richardson: “Well, you threatened to take action against channel seven after your contract wasn’t renewed, correct?”

Auerbach: “Yes.”

Richardson: “I want to suggest to you, Mr Auerbach, that you are here today to do as much damage to your former employer and former colleagues as you possibly can?”

Auerbach: “I strongly disagree.”

Richardson: “And you’re prepared to lie in that endeavour?”

Auerbach: “No sir.”

Richardson asked if Auerbach had tried to have his name added to a Walkley nomination for Spotlight’s Bruce Lehrmann story, and said he contacted network news boss Craig McPherson about it.

Auerbach: “I said I objected to it being entered.”

Richardson: “Did you make threats to appear at the Channel Seven Media AGM and raise embarrassing questions or questions that would embarrass the network?”

Auerbach: “Not seriously.”

Sacked from Sky News

Auerbach has recently lost another job.

His appearance in court comes after several weeks in which Auerbach’s name has been everywhere in the Sydney media, amid allegations against both Bruce Lehrmann and Seven.

The publicity cost him his most recent job, at Sky News Australia.

One of the stories that’s been around is that someone was circulating five-year-old photos of a well-known socialite in which she is topless.

In cross-examination, Auerbach was asked if he had circulated those photos, without seeking the woman’s consent.

Richardson: “ “At some point during February or March this year did you circulate photographs of a woman in a state of undress, taken about five years ago?”

Auerbach: “Yes sir.

Richardson: “The woman’s breasts were exposed in these photographs, correct?”

Auerbach: “Yes sir.”

Richardson: “She was a woman you understood to be vulnerable, correct?”

Auerbach: “No sir.”

Richardson: “You sent those photographs to media organisations, didn’t you?”

Auerbach: “Journalists.”

Richardson: “You did not obtain the consent of the woman in question to do this, did you?

Auerbach: “No.”

Richardson: “You were aware, weren’t you, it was a criminal act to send photographs of this kind to third parties without consent?”

Auerbach: “No.”

Richardson: “Did your employers at Sky become aware that this had happened? That is, that you had sent these photographs of this woman to various media organisations?”

Auerbach: “No, I don’t know.”

Richardson: “Isn’t that why you were sacked, Mr Auerbach?”

Auerbach: “No.”

Auerbach said Sky News executives told him they were terminating his employment due to trust and confidence issues.

Richardson: “Have you been interviewed by the police about the photographs you have circulated to various media organisations of this woman? “

Auerbach: “No.”

Brittany Higgins’ anger at Four Corners

Justice Michael Lee doesn’t miss much.

One of the documents supplied to the court by Taylor Auerbach is a chronology he says he received from Bruce Lehrmann. In yesterday’s episode of the Front we went through that chronology in detail – it includes large numbers of personal messages from Brittany Higgins and others.

In court on Thursday before Taylor AUerbach took to the witness box, Lee said he’d ‘trudged manfully’ through the chronology and had noticed a reference by Brittany Higgins to someone called Rebekah in March 2021.

Here’s what the text message says: ”I really don’t want to go them for money. Especially since they’ve done the right thing. I just don’t want to rock the boat with Rebekah.”

David Sharaz replied: “I know I think though – it’s fair to them to be honest. They have insurance for these things and things should have been put in place. No doubt many men agree with this guy and he’s been given a platforrn. It’s great he’s off air and they did the right thing, but they shouldn’t have allowed that for so long. I think if Rebecca keeps it confidential that’s OK. But this is all up to you.”

The context appears to be Brittany Higgins’ agitation about a Four Corners program that had aired on 22 March 2021.

In that program, former security guard Nikola Anderson had spoken about finding Higgins naked on the parliamentary sofa after the alleged rape.

Anderson said on the show: “The sound of the door or the breeze of the door opening has then made the female open her eyes, look at me, and then she’s rolled over onto a side. So therefore my take on it was she’s conscious, she’s breathing. She’s doesn’t look like she’s in distress.”

This account contradicted Higgins’ own account that she’d woken up with her dress around her waist. She later said that had been a mistake and she couldn’t explain how the dress was taken off.

Earlier in the chronology is a message from Brittany Higgins to her friend Emma Watson: “Feeling shitty. Four Corners is going to be a bit of a beat up. They’ve interviewed a current Min wing security guard – the one who let me into the suite that night – who is naturally trying to normalise everything that happened.”

Giles returned to court and said she’d considered the matter and was satisfied she did not have a conflict in representing Mr Auerbach.

Auerbach’s attack on lawyer

One of the claims in Auerbach’s affidavits is that he deleted documents in his possession after being told by executive producer Mark Llewellyn, and an external lawyer he named as Richard Keegan, that Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson ‘weren’t happy’ with Spotlight’s story.

That goes to Network Ten’s argument that Network Seven failed to comply with the subpoenas issued by the court – and it’s all about Ten’s belief that Seven’s source was Bruce Lehrmann. Ten alleges Seven was trying to hide the fact Lerhamnn had handed over material he shouldn’t have.

Richardson: “Mr. Keegan never said anything to you, suggesting you should destroy or delete anything. Did he?”

Auerbach: “He used the words, as I indicated in my affidavit.”

Richardson: “I want to suggest he never so much as hinted that you should do anything of the kind.”

Auerbach: “That’s completely incorrect.”

Richardson: “In fact, Mr. Auerbach, by this time, that is late May, early June 2023. You had been sidelined from this program, hadn’t you?”

Auerbach: “In many ways, yes.”

Richardson: “In fact, you gave instructions, did you not? To your lawyers at Gilbert and Tobin to put this material in a letter sent to the solicitors for channel seven in August last year, from late 2022 onwards. Our client has been gradually excluded and removed from involvement in the story. Correct. That was correct, wasn’t it?”

Auerbach: “It is.”

Richardson: “Now you understand that the allegation you make in that paragraph against a lawyer, Mr. Keegan, is incredibly serious, given his position, don’t you?”

Auerbach: “Yes.”

Richardson: “I want to suggest you are willing to say anything, no matter how false, to damage people that are employed by channel seven or connected with channel seven. Do you agree or disagree?”

Auerbach: “Disagree.”

What Auerbach told the psychologist

30 drinks a day

Richardson sought to establish that Taylor Auerbach’s recollection of being handed documents by Lehrmann wasn’t reliable. He asked Auerbach about notes taken by a clinical psychologist in 2023.

Richardson: “And do you recall telling her on the 14th of July that you had stopped or slowed down your drinking early in 2023?”

Auerbach: “I don’t recall.”

Richardson: “You told her that, prior to this time, you had been consuming less than 140 standard drinks a week or less than 30 standard drinks a day. Do you remember that?”

Auerbach: “No.”

Richardson: “You deny that?”

Auerbach: “No.”

Richardson: “I want to suggest to you, Mr. Auerbach, that your recollection of anything that happened in November or December 2022 is suspect. Do you agree or disagree?”

Auerbach: “I disagree.”

One of the documents Auerbach says Lerhmann gave him – a 2300-page tranche of texts between Higgins and her ex-boyfriend Ben Dillaway – Auerbach claims was handed over during a golf trip to Tasmania with Mark Llewellyn and John MacGowan in December 2022.

Richardson: “It didn’t happen, did it Mr Auerbach?”

Auerbach: “It most certainly did”.

Richardson: “Once again, I take it on this golfing trip you were consuming about 20 standard drinks a day.”

Auerbach: “No, sir.”

Richardson: “So on this golfing trip, you decided to drink less than you normally were during that period. Is that correct?”

Auerbach: “That’s correct.”

Richardson: “That’s a pretty silly answer, isn’t it, Mr. Auerbach?”

Auerbach: “No. It’s true.”

Scott Morrison and the c-bomb

There was an interesting moment right at the end of the day on Thursday, when Michael Lee indicated he had a lot more work to do before completing his judgment, which was due on April 4.

It relates to the detailed chronology included in Auerbach’s affidavit – the one he says came from Bruce Lehrmann.

The chronology includes Higgins’ partner David Sharaz describing former Prime Minister Scott Morrison as a c-word and Brittany Higgins saying the then-PM was going to get ‘fucked over’.

Justice Lee said there were representations in the document he hadn’t seen before – about what happened at The Dock pub on the night of the alleged rape, a police record of interview with Higgins’ ex-boyfriend Ben Dillaway and medical records.

Collins, counsel for Ten, leapt to his feet, saying he wanted to make submissions about that chronology, saying none of it was first-hand evidence of anything.

The judge didn’t want to hear it.

“It’s gone in. It’s gone in, Dr Collins, and it’s gone in for all purposes,” Justice Lee said.

Taylor Auerbach will return to the witness box in Sydney’s Federal Court tomorrow. Come back to The Front for more detailed coverage then.

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This is an edited transcript of The Australian’s daily news podcast The Front. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or The Australian’s app.