Sacked 60 Minutes producer reaches settlement with Nine after bungled Beirut kidnap drama

The former producer of 60 Minutes, who took legal action against the Nine network after he was sacked following the kidnapping saga in Beirut, has reached an out of court settlement with his former employers.

Stephen Rice was fired despite an internal Nine investigation concluding that no staff should have been dismissed after the chaotic episode which saw the 60 Minutes crew, led by reporter Tara Brown, temporarily jailed.

The Australian has reported that Rice and Nine have resolved the dispute.

“Stephen Rice and Nine Network Australia have resolved their dispute over Mr Rice’s departure from Nine on mutually agreed terms,” Rice’s lawyer John Laxon told the newspaper.

“No further comment will be made.”

Laxon previously said that several Nine executives were involved in the incident.

“To say that Stephen was somehow running the show and ultimately responsible is just nonsense,” Laxon is reported to have said in May. “Stephen Rice is a scapegoat.”