Former Blues president Luke Sayers issues apology to end high-stakes defamation case with ex-wife

Former Carlton president Luke Sayers has settled his bitter defamation battle with his ex-wife Cate, with the businessman issuing an apology for the extreme hurt and harm he had caused to the mother of his four daughters.

The confidential, eleventh-hour agreement staves off potentially explosive court proceedings which had the potential to severely embarrass the AFL and several of its most senior executives.

Cate Sayers sued her ex-husband for defamation in the Supreme Court of Victoria over his handling of an explicit picture scandal involving publication of a photograph of Sayers’ penis on his X account in January last year.

On Friday, lawyers for the former couple told the court they had reached a settlement which would end the proceedings. The case had been set to hear the businessman’s arguments to keep material relating to the AFL’s investigation into the scandal secret via legal privilege.

The court heard Sayers apologised unreservedly for a suggestion that his former wife had been responsible for posting the lewd picture.

The court date had already been postponed twice by the warring parties as representatives for Luke, who was a former chief executive of PwC, sought to reach a negotiated settlement with Cate to avoid exposure of how Sayers, his advisers, the AFL and Carlton each handled their roles in managing the explicit picture scandal.

The conduct of two of the AFL’s most senior executives - executive general manager of corporate affairs Sharon McCrohan and general counsel Stephen Meade - as well as its integrity unit, which is led by Tony Keane, were expected to come under intense scrutiny in the court.

A statutory declaration sworn by Luke was key to him being cleared of wrongdoing by the AFL for the nude photo publication. A female executive at one of Carlton’s sponsors was also tagged in the post. The AFL accepted the sworn statement on face value and did not investigate its veracity.

Luke Sayers’ statutory declaration formed the basis of Cate’s defamation case. The document declared that Cate’s denials about posting the explicit picture couldn’t be trusted, that she suffered from mental illness and at times refused to take her medication. It also contained an express request that neither the police nor the AFL interview Cate.

He was represented in his legal battle with his wife by Arnold Bloch Liebler partner Leon Zwier and Matt Collins KC.

Cate was represented by Rebekah Giles from Giles George and Sue Chrysanthou, SC.

More to come

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