Taylor Auerbach allegations have opened a can of worms`

Former Seven Network producer Taylor Auerbach was charged wih ‘babysitting’ Bruce Lehrmann to woo him for an exclusive interview with Spotlight.

What a debacle. Renegade former Seven producer Taylor Auerbach has got what he wanted. He’s thrown several handfuls of dirt that have smeared the former Seven colleagues he openly admits he hates.

In the process, Auerbach has opened a can of worms that will now make it all but impossible for judge Michael Lee to deliver his already-delayed judgment in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case early next week.

On Thursday an ugly allegation of anti-Semitism got thrown into the mix, adding to the claims Auerbach has already made in affidavits about drugs and prostitutes being used to entice Lehrmann to an exclusive interview with the Spotlight program.

It’s difficult to see how justice can be served without giving Lehrmann – and the Seven staff against whom serious new allegations have been made – the chance to respond.

And in any event, Lee has now discovered in the affidavits volumes of new material he has never seen before and which he must now examine, including evidence such as records of interview and a 70-page chronology prepared for the criminal trial that may affect his consideration of Network Ten’s truth defence.

But if Ten and Lisa Wilkinson hoped that Auerbach would deliver a knockout blow in their defence against Lehrmann’s defamation action, they may be sorely disappointed.

It’s quite possible that Lee will find in their favour when he eventually hands down his verdict, but it’s unlikely to be thanks to Auerbach’s cringe-worthy performance in the Federal Court witness box on Thursday.

The 32-year-old has already spent more than two weeks on his rampage of destruction, starting with a whispering campaign that killed off the new job of his former friend and Seven colleague Steve Jackson, who was smeared by association for his role in trying to clean up the mess left by Auerbach’s night of debauchery with two Thai “masseuses”.

Auerbach admitted under cross-examination by Lehrmann’s barrister, Matthew Richardson SC, on Thursday that he “hated” Jackson – the man who helped him get his cadetship – and that he had been backgrounding journalists for weeks against him. But he was horrified by Richardson’s suggestion that he was “here today to do as much damage to your former employer and former colleagues as you possibly can”.

And he rejected the proposition that he was prepared to lie in that endeavour.

Even when Richardson played the video first aired by The Australian earlier this week of a manically grinning Auerbach methodically and violently smashing Jackson’s golf clubs, Auerbach rejected any suggestion that it displayed hatred of his former friend.

No, it was just a parody of another video, he explained.

Richardson asked him about the email he wrote to Spotlight boss Mark Llewellyn, the day after he spent more than $10,000 on Seven’s company credit card at the Sensai Thai Massage, admitting the late-night services had “nothing to do with work”.

The email, revealed by The Australian on Wednesday, made no mention of Lehrmann being present, despite Auerbach later claiming in one of his affidavits that the massages had been “for Lehrmann’s benefit”.

In the witness box Auerbach said it did have something to do with work, after all. He was just very emotional when he wrote the email and was trying to give Seven and Lehrmann some “protection”.

That concern for his colleagues didn’t last. Auerbach agreed he held great resentment against Jackson and Spotlight executive producer Llewellyn when his contract wasn’t renewed.

Jackson – who had no prior knowledge of the masseuse incident – was tasked by Seven with reversing the $10,000 payment Auerbach had made on his corporate card, in keeping with the company’s expenses policy.

Jackson’s texts to Auerbach were mysteriously leaked to the media, after which his new job as head of the NSW Police public affairs unit disappeared down the drain, with Commissioner Karen Webb deciding the role needed to be “free from external distractions”.

Chalk one up for Auerbach.

But the one-time youngest winner of the Millionaire Hot Seat game show wasn’t finished. Auerbach had bigger fish to fry, which became clear over the long Easter weekend as a flurry of affidavits arrived in the inboxes of Ten’s lawyers.

There was salacious evidence about the night out on the town with Lehrmann, who allegedly bought a bag of cocaine and paid for prostitutes.

Lehrmann got reimbursed by issuing an invoice for per diems that would be paid by Seven, Auerbach claimed.

In the witness box, Auerbach couldn’t provide any evidence of this, and Seven has categorically denied it.

Auerbach admitted circulating photos of a naked woman to journalists without her consent. He denied knowing it was a criminal offence. It would have been more interesting to know if he was aware it was just a disgusting thing to do.

Auerbach claimed that the week after the masseuse incident he was offered a promotion and a pay rise. Seven released a statement on Thursday afternoon bluntly denying that ever happened, or that it reimbursed Lehrmann for payments for drugs or prostitutes.

It also said it had complied with all its obligations in response to subpoenas issued to it.

Those are matters that have yet to be tested. And make no mistake – Seven still has plenty of serious questions about its conduct to answer.

But the Auerbach intervention has likely set back judgment day far longer than Justice Lee had anticipated – and may still not change the judgment he has already written.