Who is Taylor Auerbach? Bruce Lehrmann, Network Ten & Lisa Wilkinson case returns to court

An unfamiliar character will take centre stage when the Federal Court reconvenes to hear Ten’s eleventh-hour bid to reopen its case in its bitter defamation dispute with Bruce Lehrmann.

Taylor Auerbach (L) and Bruce Lehrmann (R)

An unfamiliar character will take centre stage when the Federal Court reconvenes on Tuesday afternoon to hear an eleventh-hour bid from Network 10 to reopen its case in its bitter defamation battle with Bruce Lehrmann.

Taylor Auerbach, a former producer for Seven’s flagship current affairs program, Spotlight, has signed an explosive affidavit that may see Justice Michael Lee’s judgment in the case – due to be delivered on Thursday – pushed back.

So who is the Elizabeth Bay-based producer, and how did he manage to take up a starring role in the defamation case of the year?

Journalistic career

Auerbach first entered the Australian media scene in 2009 as a contestant on Nine’s reality quiz show Millionaire Hot Seat, where the then 18-year-old took out a $50,000 prize and a reported job offer from host Eddie Maguire.

While the job with Nine never eventuated, Auerbach started his career at News Corp in 2010 working on The Daily Telegraph’s news desk.

He started work as a producer on Nine’s A Current Affair in 2016, but jumped ship to Spotlight in 2019.

There, he was part of the team that secured an exclusive interview with the husband of disappeared fraudster Melissa Caddick, Anthony Koletti. The report won Scoop of the Year at the NSW Kennedy Awards, however Seven did not, at the time, disclose to judges it had paid Koletti $150,000 for the interview.

Later, in 2023, Auerbach helped lock down a media exclusivity deal with Mr Lehrmann. The former Liberal staffer provided two interviews to the network and gave exclusive rights to all “information, documents, film, video, photographs” that came in the aftermath of Brittany Higgins’ rape allegations against him.

Mr Lehrmann has consistently denied ever having sexual intercourse with Ms Higgins.

Why has Auerbach made headlines?

It started with NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb’s appointment of former Spotlight producer Steve Jackson as her media adviser last month.

Commissioner Webb’s decision to hire Jackson, a former friend and colleague of Auerbach, was criticised by sections of the media, particularly in relation to his key role in securing Seven’s interview with Mr Lehrmann.

Former police officer and NSW MLC Rod Roberts told 2GB last week his phone “lit up like a Christmas tree” after news broke of Jackson’s new job, full of calls from people “questioning” the appointment.

Following Jackson’s appointment, reports emerged that an unnamed Seven producer – later revealed to be Auerbach – spent $2940 on Thai massages for himself and Mr Lehrmann, and paid for them with a corporate credit card in November 2022. At the time, the Spotlight team were attempting to woo Mr Lehrmann into the tell-all interview.

The masseuses were booked without the knowledge or consent of anyone else at Seven, including Jackson.

Auerbach told senior executives he was in a “drunken daze” when he booked the late-night services, admitting they “had nothing to do with work”. He was not sacked when he disclosed the credit case misuse, but when his contract with the network expired the following year, it was not renewed.

Steve Jackson and former colleague Taylor Auerbach as seen in social media post

The Australian understands Auerbach was given a large payout when he left the network, and was made to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

After the masseuse allegations were aired, Mr Lehrmann told The Australian that they were “untrue”.

“It’s an untrue and bizarre story from a disgruntled ex-Network Seven producer,” he said. “Network Seven have only ever covered reasonable travel for filming and accommodation.”

But Auerbach told reporters last Monday that while “Mr Lehrmann very quickly issued a denial about the story … I would like to make it abundantly clear that I reject Mr Lehrmann’s accusations.”

Auerbach sent a defamation concerns notice to Mr Lehrmann on Thursday over his denial that he was involved in the Thai massage saga.

Auerbach landed a job with Sky News Australia in January, however the media outlet last week confirmed he had left its employ.

All eyes on Auerbach

Ten on Sunday launched an urgent application asking the Federal Court to reopen its case in the defamation action brought against it by Mr Lehrmann, after new information was received from Auerbach.

That information has taken the form of a reportedly 2000-page affidavit, which contains explosive details about how Spotlight came into possession of material it used in its interview with Mr Lehrmann, including ­recordings of a five-hour pre-­interview meeting between Lisa Wilkinson, her producer Angus Llewellyn, Brittany Higgins and her partner, David Sharaz.

The recording was highly embarrassing for Ten and Wilkinson, with the TV presenter heard describing former defence minister Linda Reynolds as “a nobody” and an “idiot”, as the group workshopped which “friendly” Labor politicians would push the story and put the Morrison government under pressure.

Taylor Auerbach arriving to make a statement to the media. Picture: Jonathan Ng

The leak of material was ­referred to police by Ten to investigate whether a contempt of court was committed by passing on sensitive documents originally meant for the Lehrmann criminal trial.

The investigation did not ­result in any charges being laid.

Mr Lehrmann has long denied he was the source of the recordings, and of vision of Ms Higgins and Mr Lehrmann inside Parliament House that was obtained under subpoena during the criminal trial but used on the program.

Last year, lawyers acting for Ten and Wilkinson sought to compel Mr Lehrmann to answer questions about whether he was involved in the leaks but Justice Lee denied the request. Matthew Richardson SC told the court Mr Lehrmann was not involved, claiming there was a “very significant pool of people” that could have leaked the material.

“In correspondence last night, and in the written submissions provided to your honour, the allegation was made, it was the obvious inference that my client had provided materials to Channel 7 even in breach of his Harman obligations,” Mr Richardson said.

“He absolutely denies that. It is a grave and serious allegation. It’s aggravating the damages, in this case. They have no idea. They are fishing around in the dark. There is a very, very significant pool of people that could have done this.”

Whether or not Auerbach will appear in court this afternoon is anyone’s guess. The Australian understands he made and signed the affidavit over Easter while in New Zealand.

The Federal Court hearing will commence at 5pm.

Click here to sign up to Ipso Facto, The Australian’s weekly Legal Affairs newsletter.