A glamorous professor has gone to ground after she sparked a legal row with a nine-word tweet about a throwback picture of Christian Porter and his university mates.
The former attorney general was seen with Ten's political editor Peter van Onselen and his wife Ainslie, and former Australian deputy chief medical officer Dr Nick Coatsworth during their days at the University of Western Australia.
The 20-year-old snap showed the long-time friends in black tie and evening wear at a formal night out, along with a second woman and several other men.
But a legal furore broke out after University of New South Wales Professor Gemma Carey made her nine-word comment on the pic.
Her reply referred to the women in the photograph, which then sparked the threat of defamation actions from Mr Porter and Professor van Onselen.
Professor Gemma Carey has gone to ground after sparking a legal row with a nine word tweet about an old picture of Christian Porter (left) and his university mates Dr Nick Coastworth (centre, left) and Professor Peter van Onselen, centre right with wife Ainslie, centre
A legal furore broke out after University of New South Wales Professor Gemma Carey (pictured with husband Ben O'Mara) made her nine word comment on the pic
Prof Carey's reply came in the wake of Mr Porter's resignation from Cabinet in September over his defamation lawsuit against the ABC after he identified himself as the man accused of an historic rape.
Mr Porter has vehemently denied the allegations that date back to 1988 when he was 17.
Van Onselen, 45, came under fire at the time for supporting his long-time friend - who introduced the TV analyst to his wife - during the controversy.
Prof Carey was hit with three legal notices in one email after making the jibe.
The notices all arrived in the same email from the same high-profile lawyer, Rebekah Giles, who has previously represented Mr Porter, as well as Brittany Higgins and Senator Sarah Hanson-Young.
She was sent concerns notices - which often precede defamation actions - on behalf of Mr Porter (left), Prof van Onselen (right, with wife Ainslie) and Queensland MP Andrew Laming
Former Australian deputy chief medical officer Dr Nick Coatsworth, 43, (pictured) was not part of the legal action
Prof Carey has now deleted the tweet and apologised online to Mr Porter and Prof van Onselen for her reply about the photograph. Dr Coatsworth has not been involved in the legal row.
'On 24th October 2021, I commented on a photograph of Peter van Onselen when he was at university with others & that comment was completely inappropriate & highly offensive and I should never have published it,' she tweeted.
'It has now been deleted and I unconditionally withdraw my comment and apologise to Mr van Onselen for the hurt caused to him and his wife by my conduct.'
Mr Porter received an almost identical reply.
The email sent to Professor Carey with the three legal action notices from the same lawyer
Prof Gemma Carey (pictured) has now deleted the tweet and apologised online to Mr Porter and Prof van Onselen for her reply about the photograph
She has also issued an apology to backbench Liberal MP Andrew Laming, 55, for earlier comments she made about him over a flight she once shared with him.
Australian cricketer Jason Gillespie even became embroiled in the row after he was wrongly identified by others online as being in the pic.
He took to Twitter to deny he was the man on the far right after he was repeatedly mistaken for lookalike Australian Financial Review journalist, James Eyers, who was also a friend of the group.
Prof Carey, who is in her 30s, is a childhood sexual abuse survivor and last year published a book No Matter Our Wreckage about her traumatic ordeals growing
