The boss of Seven defends the public affairs program amid claims from an ex-producer.
The program I work for – 7 News Spotlight, is facing serious allegations in the Federal Court as part of the defamation action brought by Burce Lehrmann against Channel 10 and Lisa Wilkinson.
Former producer Taylor Auerbach has claimed in an affidavit that Lehrmann was the source of confidential information supplied to Seven.
He also claims the network paid for prostitutes and drugs as part of its negotiations with Lehrmann.
These claims, and others, will continue to be tested in court tomorrow.
The CEO of Seven, James Warburton, has sent out a note to staff tonight setting the record straight.
See below,
Hello team.
Seven is appalled by the allegations made in court in recent days. We do not condone the behaviours described in these allegations. They do not reflect the culture of Seven.
For the record, Seven did not offer a promotion or pay rise to Taylor 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.
We also take issue with the allegations recently made about our conduct.
Contrary to the claims reported in the media, Seven complied with all of its obligations in relation to producing documents in response to subpoenas issued to it.
Seven has at no point asked anyone to delete or destroy any evidence.
As we said earlier this week, Seven did not condone or authorise the alleged payments to Mr Lehrmann referred to in the affidavits recently made public. 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.
Right. So in your words he’s “setting the record straight”.
And you work for Spotlight.
You have got to be kidding.