A former Channel Seven producer was so taken with Brittany Higgins’ mother’s appearance that he breathlessly texted his boss to say she ‘looks like Angelina Jolie’.
A lengthy series of texts between Taylor Auerbach and his boss Steve Jackson, who was a producer for Spotlight, were released on Friday amid Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson.
The messages between the pair were sent on October 12, 2022, when Ms Higgins’ mum Kelly Higgins took the witness stand to give evidence during Mr Lehrmann’s criminal trial in the ACT Supreme Court.
At the time, Mr Auerbach had been trying to convince Mr Lehrmann to do an exclusive post-trial interview with Spotlight.
At about 12.45pm, Mr Auerbach texted his boss from the courtroom, saying: ‘They’ve called the mum.’
Mr Jackson asked: ‘His?’
Mr Auerbach replied: ‘Her’s.’
Brittany Higgins’ mother, Kelly Higgins, is pictured outside court during Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation trial in December
Brittany Higgins is pictured, left, with her mother at an event in 2018
Pictured: Texts between former Channel Seven producers Steve Jackson (in grey) and Taylor Auerbach (in blue)
Mr Jackson pointed out that it would be the first time Ms Higgins’ mother had spoken publicly about her daughter’s alleged rape.
Mr Auerbach continued: ‘She’s like a 20/10 glamour.’
Mr Jackson asked: ‘Really?’
Mr Auerbach replied: ‘Yeah like a model or something – looks like Angelina Jolie.’
He then speculated that she was ‘some rich person who spends a lot of her time overseas’, when she was actually a real estate agent who lived on the Gold Coast.
Mr Jackson said: ‘Not that it’s important really. But attractive people perform well with juries. Or anyone. People like to believe attractive people.’
During her evidence in the criminal trial, Kelly told the court her daughter appeared ‘broken’ in March and April 2019, in the weeks after Ms Higgins’ alleged that she was raped by Mr Lehrmann in Parliament House.
Mr Lehrmann strongly denies those allegations.
‘Brittany became very distant. Brittany became very quiet… She’d lost a lot of weight. She got quite thin. She just looked quite broken,’ she said.
Further texts show that Mr Auerbach met with Mr Lehrmann’s former media agent John McGowan about two weeks later, while the jury was deliberating, to discuss a potential television deal.
Pictured: Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie at the Academy Awards
Taylor Auerbach is pictured with his lawyer Rebekah Giles, left, outside the Federal Court last week
Mr Macgowan priced the interview at about $200,000, but suggested the network avoid paying Mr Lehrmann cash.
‘Bruce wants to do one big exclusive sit-down interview at the end of this (assuming he’s found not guilty) and then move on,’ Mr Auerbach’s message to Mr Jackson read.
‘He has received a lot of pro bono legal support but has huge debts.
‘John Macgowan is helping to fund things as well and has set up a trust.
‘There is thought that Bruce should not receive money for the story directly but that money could be paid into John Macgowan’s trust (which is used to pay legal fees, etc).
He explained Mr Lehrmann was deciding whether to go with Channel Nine or Channel Seven for his exclusive interview, but either way he was going to be interviewed internationally by Piers Morgan and Tucker Carlson.
‘John said we are the only ones who have offered what they want so far, in terms of format, so we are in front and that if we can come to a mutually agreeable deal the story is ours,’ Mr Auerbach wrote.
Mr Auerbach also told his boss that Mr Lehrmann had been planning ‘massive defamation cases against Ten and other outlets in every state of Australia, and also eyeing malicious prosecution’ – even though his rape charge was still pending at the time.
The jury in Mr Lehrmann’s 2022 criminal trial was eventually dismissed after one brought banned research material into the court.
Another hearing date was tentatively set for February the following year, but the former ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold dropped the charge against Mr Lehrmann, citing concerns for Ms Higgins’ mental health.
Steve Jackson is pictured, left, with Taylor Auerbach. They were friends and colleagues, until they had a falling out
Mr Lehrmann subsequently lodged defamation cases against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson over an episode of The Project in February 2021, during which Ms Higgins aired her rape allegations for the first time in an interview with Wilkinson.
He also sued the ABC and news.com.au over similar published articles and a broadcast, but those matters were settled.
The trial against Ten and Wilkinson ran for about a month in December last year but was spectacularly reopened last week due to Mr Auerbach’s evidence.
Mr Auerbach, who does not work for Channel Seven anymore, claimed in the Federal Court that Mr Lehrmann had leaked classified material from the rape trial to the network – which Mr Lehrmann denies.
He also claimed Channel Seven paid for Mr Lehrmann’s prostitutes and cocaine in a bid to entice him into the television interview – which the network denies.
Mr Lehrmann’s two interviews on Spotlight aired in June and August last year.
A third episode was on the horizon, but it is unclear if that will go ahead.
John McGowan is pictured, left, with Bruce Lehrmann. Mr McGowan was Mr Lehrmann’s media agent in 2022
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