A protracted legal fight between former Carlton president Luke Sayers and his ex-wife over a lewd photo has reached settlement, with Mr Sayers apologising and acknowledging his former partner never posted the photo.
Mr Sayers denied posting the photo, saying his account was hacked.
His then-wife Cate sued him for defamation a year later, alleging he provided a statutory declaration to AFL investigators falsely stating that she was responsible for accessing the account and publishing the picture.
In the Supreme Court on Friday, Mr Sayers’s legal counsel Sandip Mukerjea read a statement from Mr Sayers saying he apologised “unreservedly” to his wife and acknowledged the “hurt and harm” she had faced.
He said he accepted she did not post the photo.
Mr Sayers was not at the brief hearing.
In a statement outside court, Ms Sayers said she was pleased with the outcome and had started the legal proceedings to establish the truth.
“I acknowledge Luke’s public apology to me today, including his clear statement that I was not responsible for posting an explicit image on his X account,” she said.
“This brings to a close a painful and difficult chapter that began with extraordinary claims made about me that were accepted without challenge by powerful institutions and powerful people.”
FarkCarlton and FarkAFL for sweeping these cases under the carpet.
An inquiry launched by the AFL cleared Mr Sayers of breaching AFL rules and found, on the available evidence, that access to his account “was compromised”.
Ms Sayers had argued her ex-husband made numerous false claims in his statutory declaration to the AFL, including information about her mental health and sexual history, and that she was residing in the same apartment as Mr Sayers at the time of the controversial X post.
She also argued the AFL investigation was inadequate because she was never interviewed, nor was Mr Sayers’s phone forensically examined.
How convenient! She agrees to a public apology - he makes public apology. No ongoing court cases that may reveal the extent of the FC and AFaiL collusion.
So the AFL has their own investigation and takes Mr Sayers word as gospel, all while colluding with typical emotional abuse “she’s crazy, she doesn’t take her meds” when anyone with half a brain knew what happened
I wonder how many millions the AFL poured into the settlement to stop it going to court so all their dirty laundry didn’t come out? Joke of an organisation, but well done to Cate
What still doesn’t sit right with the entire Sayers ■■■■ pic thing is that a draft stat dec was circulated for review to AFL comms team. That is highly inappropriate and more needs to be made of it. Typical AFL just trying to come out ensuring they smell of roses when one of their presidents farked Carltoned.
Effectively he backgrounded against her (basically like a 16 year old who’s been dropped by their first girlfriend - ‘ignore what she says, she’s crazy!’) and the courts have called him a total liar and he’s been forced to agree with the courts.
Yet the AFL haven’t kicked him to the curb.
Says a lot.
Honestly she needs to find a total grub of a lawyer to take him for defamation.
He really represents the worst of the top end of town in Melbourne.
But she did sue him for defamation. The settlement included his public apology (which he courageously got his lawyer to do) and a favourable financial outcome.
