‘Derision in his voice’: Lattouf calls out Kim Williams, says she self-medicated after dismissal

Antoinette Lattouf has hit out at ABC chair Kim Williams, telling the Federal Court that he “took swipes” at her and derided her on live television at the National Press Club, as she detailed the psychological and physical toll her dismissal by the ABC had taken on her.

Williams spoke with “derision in his voice towards me”, Lattouf told the court on Tuesday when questioned by her barrister, adding that she had been continually lied about, defamed and derided by Williams, and that the Murdoch press had published the most “horrible mischaracterisations” about her.

Lattouf was brought to tears on multiple occasions during the second day of tense cross-examination, before the court heard her removal and the events surrounding it had exacerbated a pre-existing depressive order.

Former ABC radio presenter Antoinette Lattouf exits the Federal Court.Credit: Rhett Wyman

She had turned to self-medication, drinking vodka to get to sleep, using sedatives, antidepressants and occasionally cannabis, her psychiatrist, Dr Nigel Strauss, said when called to the witness box late in the day.

Lattouf admitted she had sometimes drunk until she passed out, relied on sleeping aids, and had suffered from paranoia on two occasions, thinking she was being followed.

On Tuesday afternoon, a NSW Police spokesperson confirmed to this masthead it was investigating a complaint made by Lattouf in October, after she received an online threat. Police reportedly told her they had identified the man and were close to an arrest, the court heard. However, the spokesperson did not confirm this.

ABC chair Kim Williams addresses the National Press Club in November.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

With her cross-examination by the ABC’s barrister, Ian Neil, SC, spilling deep into Tuesday’s proceedings, Lattouf pushed back against the ABC’s arguments that she had benefited from the fallout from her removal. Neil asked her if she characterised herself as the “poster girl for justice or humanity or a free and fair press”, referring to a social media video she had posted after her dismissal, a claim she rejected.

Neil contended Lattouf had “accrued” a number of benefits because of the way she “courted media attention”, including increased online followers, speaking gigs, awards, and the launch of her own new podcast, The Antoinettes.

At one point, Lattouf drew a parallel with other senior ABC figures and presenters who had taken a position on certain issues and were therefore not impartial. She named Annabel Crabb, Julia Baird, and Virginia Trioli as having all spoken publicly about domestic violence, while ABC Radio Sydney Breakfast host Craig Reucassel had taken an opinion on recycling, Lattouf said.

Lattouf is arguing she was unlawfully terminated three days into a five-day contract as a fill-in presenter on ABC Radio Sydney in late 2023. Central to the case are social media posts she made before and during her time at the ABC, it is argued.

She is also claiming racial discrimination. On Monday, her barrister, Oshie Fagir, told the court “the ABC says that this claim must fail because Ms Lattouf has not proven there is a Lebanese, Arab or Middle Eastern race”.

Students Against War protest against the dismissal of Antoinette Lattouf and the broader issue of silencing journalists, outside the ABC headquarters in Sydney in January 2023.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos

Long stretches of the second day of the proceedings focused once again on her social media activity, and repeated disagreements over whether the suggestion by ABC Radio Sydney content director Elizabeth Green to “maybe don’t post” on social media platforms while she was on a five-day contract was a direct directive from the public broadcaster.

Lattouf said her initial conversation with Green on December 18, 2023 – the first day of her contract – focused on expectations of her social media activity during the week she was presenting the Sydney Mornings show. Green informed Lattouf there had been a “flood of complaints” from pro-Israel lobbyists about her presence on air that morning but said she had done nothing wrong.

Antoinette Lattouf (right) arrives at the Federal Court on Monday. The court has heard that Ita Buttrose (left), the then chair of the ABC, pushed for Lattouf to be taken off air.Credit: Janie Barrett, Edwina Pickles

“Maybe keep a low profile on Twitter and maybe don’t post while you’re with us,” Lattouf says Green told her, which she pushed back against.

Lattouf was ultimately removed by the ABC after reposting a post on social media from Human Rights Watch on December 19, the afternoon of the second day of her ABC contract. It said Israel was using starvation as a weapon of war.

She told the court on Tuesday that she had posted the information under the belief it was factual information, and after she had seen HRW’s report on the ABC and the BBC. She rejected Neil’s assertion the post was controversial.

The ABC has denied Lattouf was sacked, because she was paid for the full five days, and has also denied its most senior executives were influenced by pro-Israel lobbyists in their decision-making. Most of the ABC’s top executives – including then-chair Ita Buttrose, managing director David Anderson and content chief Chris Oliver-Taylor – have either left the national broadcaster or are on their way out.

Anderson was due to be cross-examined on Tuesday. He will now appear on Wednesday. Buttrose is scheduled to be called as a witness later this week.

Monday’s proceedings at the Federal Court heard that Buttrose had pushed for Lattouf to be taken off air following complaints about her.

Buttrose wrote in emails with Anderson: “I have a whole clutch of complaints. Can’t she come down with flu, or COVID or a stomach upset? We owe her nothing,” the court was told.

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