Craig McLachlan launches legal action against ABC, Fairfax and Christie Whelan Browne
Australian television and theatre personality Craig McLachlan has launched legal action against Fairfax Media and the ABC following the media outlets’ reports on his alleged sexual harassment and on-set bullying.
Seven News has tonight reported it was at the scene when McLachlan’s legal representatives served the ABC and Fairfax Media with the legal documents. Seven’s Paul Kadak, who was at the Supreme Court where the statement of claim was lodged, said McLachlan was also taking action against his former co-star in the Rocky Horror Show, Christie Wheelan Browne.
McLachlan will be represented by QC Stuart Littlemore and defamation lawyer Mark O’Brien
Seven had footage of the man who served the media outlets with the papers, however when he was asked “What’s the nature of [the legal action]?” by Seven, he responded “I’m not sure of the nature of the business”.
In his report, Kadak said Seven had obtained McLachlan’s statement of claim, which names the ABC and Fairfax, but “principally targets his former co-star Christie Whelan Browne”.
Kadak said:
Now in here [the statement of claim], his lawyers have responded to the accusations made against Craig McLachlan and they cite evidence which they say proves Christie Whelan Browne, and I’m quoting here, is ‘a notoriously foul-mouthed person who publicly distributed offensive matter, and had expressed interest in deviant sexual practices’.
The document also cites eight examples including a number of posts from her Instagram account , with references of a sexual nature, as well as references to ‘what was under Craig McLachlan’s boxer shorts’.
Kadak said McLachlan is represented by QC Stuart Littlemore and defamation lawyer Mark O’Brien.
Fairfax and ABC have both declined to comment on the matter.
Allegations against McLachlan came to light after a joint investigation by Fairfax Media and the ABC.
Among the allegations, McLachlan – who has worked on shows including Neighbours, Home and Away and more recently The Wrong Girl on Ten – was described as “calculated” and “manipulative” with “sinister, predatory behaviour”. He was accused of pressing against co-stars on stage, exposing himself, touching their genitals and groping their breasts.
Whelan Browne, along with other cast members from the 2014 production Erika Heynatz and Angela Scundi, were interviewed as part of the investigation. Heynatz and Scundi have taken their allegations to the Victoria police.
At the time, McLachlan responded to the allegations saying they were “baseless” and “all made up”, suggesting the women could be motivated by money.
Following the ABC’s and Fairfax’s investigation, McLachlan was ousted from the Rocky Horror Show, in which he was once again playing Frank N Furter.
The production company behind the show, The Gordon Frost Organisation, initially denied claims it had ignored the women’s complaints about McLachlan at the time of the alleged behaviour, however managing director John Frost subsequently apologised to the women.
“Anyone should feel comfortable reporting issues of sexual harassment, discrimination and bullying, and the fact that these three women did not feel as though they could report these issues in 2014 is concerning and distressing to me, and I sincerely apologise to them for this,” he said in January.
“Our company is responsible for sometimes hundreds of people across many productions at any given time, and we do have very strict policies and procedures in place when it comes to reporting of allegations of this nature. We had those same policies in place in 2014.
“Over the past few days we have spent time reinforcing those policies and assuring all employees across all productions that any reported incident will be treated seriously and promptly with sensitivity to all parties concerned.”
Frost also noted that although Heynatz, Whelan Browne and Scundi did not officially make a complaint at the time, he has “no reason to disbelieve anyone who says they spoke to one of our managers in 2014.”
The show originally screened on the ABC, but it was axed by the national broadcaster in March last year. The ABC said the time was right to end the program.
The final episode of its five-season run in November had 891,000 metro viewers and 1.339m viewers across the nation, according to OzTAM’s overnight preliminary metro ratings.
Six months after the ABC announced it had axed the Doctor Blake Mysteries, Seven ‘saved’ the program.
The show, however, has not yet made it back on air.
McLachlan also starred as a popular, but sleazy, breakfast television host in Ten’s The Wrong Girl which has thus far run for two seasons. It is not yet clear if The Wrong Girl – which also starred Whelan Browne – will be commissioned for a third season.
McLachlan was the second high-profile local media personality to be accused of indecent behaviour in two months after veteran journalist Tracey Spicer launched an investigation into the Australian media industry. In late November, Don Burke was accused of sexually harassing a string of female colleagues throughout his career.
Craig McLachlan timeline:
2012:
10 April: Craig McLachlan cast in new ABC series
2017:
3 March: ABC axes its most popular series, The Doctor Blake Mysteries
27 October: Seven saves The Doctor Blake Mysteries from ABC axe
13 November: Doctor Blake says goodbye to the ABC with rare ratings win
2018:
8 January: Doctor Blake Mysteries star Craig McLachlan accused of indecent assault and sexual harassment
8 January: Seven seeks urgent update from Doctor Blake producers following Craig McLachlan allegations
8 January: Craig McLachlan ousted from The Rocky Horror Show
9 January: Nine’s A Current Affair coverage of McLachlan allegations outrates ABC’s 7:30 investigation
9 January: Production on next Doctor Blake Mysteries series suspended after Craig McLachlan allegations
11 January: Rocky Horror Show production company MD apologises to McLachlan’s accusers
13 January: Doctor Blake future in doubt after new Craig McLachlan allegations
Onya Craig. Hope you take down these neo-marxists for all they’re worth.
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This will be a fascinating case.
If the claims are found to be defamatory this will be the end of the public naming and shaming, for better or worse.
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Well done mate. You have handled these grubs exactly as you should have. Like a gentleman. I have known you to be lighthearted and a bit of a larikan but NEVER a predator. Good on ypu for making them clear your name xxx
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Go get’em Frakenfurter
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Thankyou Vivienne, that is the best report so far.
http://www.savedoctorblake.weebly.com
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Go get them Craig…I’m backing you all the way! Xx
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Well done Craig. I hope this ends the trial by media in this country. Men need to fight back hard. Innocent until proven guilty.
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7 were on the scene.
Where are all these commenters from on this post thus far? Doesn’t seem like the usual Mumbrella crowd?
May the truth be uncovered in court and may justice prevail. Innocent until proven guilty.
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Trial by media is not the way to go.
We all saw what trial by media did to Lindy & Michael Chamberlain case.
Media reform changes are needed, even at a voluntary code, to provide victims their right to a fair trial.
Accusers should have all instances of their identity removed until the court has passed its verdict.
The same way we treat recording of kids, and others in front of active court hearings.
We need to trust the legal system and not provide mass reach platforms for accusers to unfairly amplify their claims.
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Onya Craig those bloody women (of which I am one) have to know to keep their(I mean our, as I am a woman) opinions and suffering to themselves.
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Exactly my point about ‘naming and shaming’. There is a very specific definition of sexual harrassment and abuse that many misunderstand. Same with bullying in the workplace. If someone treats everyone the same (doing terrible stuff) they are just defined as a ‘bad manager’ which has no criminal ramifications. So, don’t all get too excited about Naming and Shaming as Cindy Gallop suggests we do. I think it will just backfire onto the accusers. Likewise the evidence required to make any charges stick needs to be super water-tight and in a specific form, and I can assure you even if they are guilty it is hard to make it stick (eg. Let’s think about Michael Jackson having kids in his bed, and children making claims that couldn’t be proven…hmm).
Realistically, things were bad in the past in our industry but I think it is hard to go back and point fingers when it was the ‘norm’ and both men and women didn’t know any different.
Don’t get me wrong – actual legally classified sexual harrassment and bullying certainly needs to be dealt with and in any time frame to get justice (eg. Rolf Harris, Harvey Weinstein) but like my former creative directors who put their penis on my shoulder, showed me their nude photos to convince me to sleep with them, or were just plain revolting there is nothing we can do and neither we should. None of those people would be likely to do any of this today because we all know better.
There are worse things than this behaviour or ‘bawdry behaviour’ – like being ignored without discernible reason, like not being heard in a meeting when you actually are the one saying the smartest stuff, like missing out on the jobs that the boys get, or like not being paid the same for the same work. I can deal with a penis on my shoulder much easier than that stuff!
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Stay strong Christie.
It’s a lose lose game for women who speak out. Hoping that some good comes out of this and it doesn’t lead to women doing what they have always done until 2017 – staying quiet and putting up with it.
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So, just another reminder that there is no law against asking someone you work with on a date and like in this video having Craig and Ita Buttrose flirt with each other… the issue is only when it becomes persistent, after you have asked them to stop or as a way to use power for gain.
Perhaps @Mumbrella could help the industry actually understand what sexual harrassment and bullying really is by a professional HR person? I think there are a lot of men afraid to move these days and a lot of people wasting time and making accusations that can’t be proven. There are massive costs and reputations at stake here… This would be a good service to the industry… Just a thought.
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I believe these women allegations….[edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy].
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I know this is an old article. I know none of the people involved, but have worked with sexual assault victims.It appears that Mr. McLachlan has been the victim of not only trial by media, but an almost vendetta by the networks trying to defend the poor research before publishing what they did. In all this time they have found only a few others who claim inappropriate behavior and those are being dragged into the proceeding. By the descriptions that have come out, he was the victim of sexual assault though men are more loathe to say anything. The investigation into Weinstein was conducted for 18 months before anything was published and there were hundreds of complaints. There does not appear to be a pattern as the newspaper claimed. So it appears that the victim was named before the facts came out and his career destroyed. Sexual assault is horrible for men and women. Most do not fully recover or have severe flashbacks. However, before destroying someone life, one would expect a responsible reporter and news media would have all the facts. It appears because of his past roles, he was an easy target. Unfortunately, sometimes memories change or there is regret on a persons part. The courts and police should be contacted long before the media.
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