Actor/singer Craig McLachlan is going after the ABC, Fairfax Media and fellow actor Christie Whelan-Browne for assassinating his career in what we be a very ugly legal battle.
Reckless reporting by the ABC and Fairfax used Whelan-Browne to sentence McLachlan to a guilty verdict in a “trail by media”. The program via the ABC’s 7.30 Report and co-created with journalists at Fairfax crucified McLachlan’s character accusing him of sexual assault. In Australia you are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The ABC and fairfax do not overrule the law.
It now no longer matters if McLachlan did it or didn’t do it. What matters now is that the ABC, Fairfax and Whelan-Browne took the law into their own hands and publicly destroyed a man’s 30-year career. That is all the court will look at in this case.
Craig McLachlan filed documents yesterday (1 February 2018) at the Supreme Court of New South Wales in Sydney suing for Defamation. He is listed as First Plaintiff. Christie Whelan Browne is named First Defendant and Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd and the ABC as named Second Defendant.
The alleged inicident happened when Whelan-Browne and McLachlan were starring in the Rocky Horror Show. As a direct result of the accusations, McLachlan has left the current production of the Rocky Horrow Show and his current TV series Dr Blake Mysteries has been put on hold. McLachlan was cleared of sexual harrassment accusations by the producers of Dr Blake Mysteries yesterday after a month long investigation. The investigation found that “the show’s workplace culture was “bawdy and crude” and may have offended some cast and crew members” but that it did not constitute a criminal action. Victoria Police are continuing their investigations into the Rocky Horror Show claims by Whelan-Browne.
If Christie Whelan-Browne was truthful in her accusations against McLachlan she will find it hard to legally prove given the publicity the ABC’s broadcast achieved. By accusing McLachlan of such a devious act in the court of public opinion, Whelan has made McLachlan the victim.
The ABC and Fairfax should have known their broadcast could negate any chance of a legal victory for Whelan-Browne and the two others who made statements about Craig but they went ahead with the program regardless. By doing so they have pretty much stuffed up Whelan-Browne’s chance of justice.
Now a man accused of being a sexual predator has become the victim and his accuser has become “the defendant”. That is how the legal system works folks. There are no shortcuts to justice, especially through the media. The ABC and Fairfax are not the judges and their studio is not a courtroom.
This is going to get ugly.
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