The Lisa Wilkinson 'apology' letter over the Brittany Higgins Logies trial ... trends now
Channel Ten's apology letter to a judge about Lisa Wilkinson's ill-fated Logies speech can be revealed for the first time - with the network insisting the star did not 'understand' she had been warned about the consequences of her televised address.
The veteran journalist came under fire last year for thanking Ms Higgins in her acceptance speech for the Outstanding News Coverage Logie award, which she was given for her one-on-one interview with the former ministerial staffer.
Her speech was televised nationally and forced the trial against Bruce Lehrmann to be postponed in the ACT Supreme Court from June to October, with defence lawyers arguing it could prejudice a jury.
During a hearing to discuss potential repercussions of the speech on June 21, Chief Justice Lucy McCallum told the court that Ms Wilkinson sought advice on whether the speech was appropriate in a meeting with the ACT's Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold the previous week.
The chief justice said Wilkinson went ahead with her plans for the speech, in spite of Mr Drumgold's warning.
However, Daily Mail Australia has exclusively obtained the carefully-worded letter of apology sent to Mr Lehrmann's lawyers, the DPP and Chief Justice McCallum on behalf of Channel 10 and Wilkinson the next day, on June 22.
Lisa Wilkinson came under fire in June for thanking Brittany Higgins in her acceptance speech for the Outstanding News Coverage Logie award (pictured at the Logies)
Pictured: a letter of apology sent to Mr Lehrmann's lawyers, the DPP and Chief Justice McCallum on behalf of Channel 10 and Ms Wilkinson
In the letter, the executive vice-president of Channel 10, Beverley McGarvey claimed that neither the network's senior legal counsel or Ms Wilkinson realised they had been cautioned about the speech in the pre-Logies meeting with Mr Drumgold.
'Neither Ms Wilkinson not the Network Ten Senior Legal Counsel present at the conference with the DPP on June 15 2022 understood that they had been cautioned that Ms Wilkinson giving an acceptance speech at the Logie Awards could result in an application being made to the court to vacate the trial date,' the letter read.
'Had they understood that a specific warning had been given, Ms Wilkinson would not have given that speech.'
'We profoundly regret
