Channel 10 was slammed by a judge for Lisa Wilkinson's Logies grandstanding ... trends now
The Project host Sarah Harris introduced a guest whose alleged rapist was acquitted of sexual assault as a 'rape survivor', just hours after Network Ten was slammed over Lisa Wilkinson's infamous Logies speech.
The guest was victims' advocate Saxon Mullins and her accused attacker, Luke Lazarus, was found not guilty seven years ago of having had sexual intercourse with her without consent.
Bruce Lehrmann's trial for raping Brittany Higgins was delayed for three months when Wilkinson praised the then-alleged victim's courage at the Logies before he had faced a jury.
His trial trial was ultimately aborted due to juror misconduct but Federal Court judge Michael Lee found on Monday afternoon Lehrmann had raped Ms Higgins.
Justice Lee also condemned Ten for 'grossly improper' conduct in relation to Wilkinson's Logies grandstanding, which he said she should have known was 'fraught with danger'.
He said Ten's senior litigation counsel Tasha Smithies should have been aware of potential legal issues when giving Wilkinson advice about the speech.
The Project led its episode on Monday evening with news of the Federal Court defamation judgement in which Justice Lee found against Lehrmann.
While Justice Lee ruled in favour of Ten, he was critical of Wilkinson's February 2021 interview with Ms Higgins on The Project, finding the program had failed to properly investigate inconsistencies in her version of events.
He criticised The Project for failing to question the motives of Ms Higgins's fiance David Sharaz for encouraging Ms Higgins to come forward, and for not doing enough to contact Lehrmann.
Lehrmann had claimed he was defamed by Ten and Wilkinson when Ms Higgins said in The Project interview she was raped in Parliament House in March 2019.
Ms Higgins did not name Lehrmann - who had not yet been charged with rape - but he said he could be identified by what was said.
The Project host Sarah Harris introduced a guest whose alleged attacker was acquitted of sexual assault as a 'rape survivor', just hours after Network Ten was slammed over Lisa Wilkinson's infamous Logies speech
On Monday night, The Project panel spoke to lawyer Justin Quill, who acted for Ten, and said the network had secured a 'big win'.
Host Sarah Harris then introduced Saxon Mullins from Rape and Sexual Assault Research and Advocacy (RASARA) to discuss Justice Lee's decision.
'Saxon Mullins is a rape survivor, and victims' advocate,' Harris said, without any explanation that Ms Mullins' accused rapist had been acquitted.
'It must have been particularly triggering for you - you had to go through that justice system after an assault - what was that like?' Harris said.
Ms Mullins was 18 when she accused 21-year-old Luke Lazarus, son of multimillionaire hotelier Andrew Lazarus, of raping her in an alley behind his father's Soho night club at Kings Cross in May 2013.
Mr Lazarus was found guilty 2015 of raping Ms Mullins and spent 11 months in jail but was granted a retrial and acquitted in 2017 by a NSW District Court judge sitting without a jury.
Sarah Harris described victims' advocate Saxon Mullins as a 'rape survivor' (above). Ms Mullins's accused rapist, Luke Lazarus, was cleared seven years ago of having had sexual intercourse with her without consent.
Judge Robyn Tupman found while Ms Saxon did not consent to anal intercourse, there was no evidence to find Lazarus knew she was not
