Major update amid calls for Lisa Wilkinson to lose her Logie

There have been growing calls for Lisa Wilkinson to hand back her Logie award (pictured) won’t be stripped of her Silver Logie after a leaked pre-interview lunch with and others revealed the extent to which The Project host sought to politicise her rape allegation.There have been growing calls in recent days for Wilkinson to hand back her gong for Most Outstanding News Coverage or Public Affairs Report, which she was awarded in June last year for her explosive interview with the former Liberal staffer.The calls were prompted by emergence of a recording of a five-hour meeting between Wilkinson, her Channel Ten producer Angus Llewellyn, Ms Higgins and her boyfriend David Sharaz in a  hotel room in January 2021. During the TV program, which aired about two weeks later on February 15, Ms Higgins alleged she was raped by former colleague  in Parliament House in March, 2019.

He has always denied the allegations.The allegations which arose from the recorded lunch meeting are that Wilkinson coached and prompted Ms Higgins prior to her interview about the rape allegations.The group also spoke about the Labor politicians they claimed they could rely on to ‘fire’ questions in Question Time and the apparent mockery of the Liberal Party’s preselection of indigenous candidates. Wilkinson was later forced to issue an apology to candidate Jacinta Nampijinpa Price after appearing to compare her preselection to a white family ‘hiring a black cleaner’. A recording of a five-hour meeting between Wilkinson, her Channel Ten producer Angus Llewellyn, Brittany Higgins and her boyfriend David Sharaz (both pictured) in a Sydney hotel room  in January 2021 has revealed the extent to which The Project host sought to politicise the allegations  But it is unlikely Wilkinson will have to hand back her award as it was awarded to the entire The Project team, not just the host.

Pictured: Lisa Wilkson and her husband Peter FitzSimons But despite these damning revelations it is highly unlikely Wilkinson will be ordered to hand back her Logie because it was awarded to The Project team rather than just the host.’It was never awarded to Lisa Wilkinson personally.
It was won by The Project and Network Ten. Lisa may have made it all about Lisa, but it’s the show’s award,’ a well-placed source .The source added that there was ‘no rule in the guidelines’ to stipulate the Logie should be handed back.However, it is not unprecedented for journalists to be forced to hand back awards.Two Channel Nine news reporters were stripped of their Walkley Award last year for a story on former federal parliamentarian Andrew Laming after he successfully sued the media company for defamation.Mr Lehrmann is pursuing a defamation case against Network Ten and Wilkinson, which will be heard by a judge in November. He alleges that Wilkinson’s interview with Ms Higgins conveyed a series of defamatory meanings, including that he raped Ms Higgins in then defence industry minister Linda Reynolds’ office in 2019. Bruce Lehrmann (pictured, penipu left) s pursuing a defamation case against Network Ten and WilkinsonIn their defence filed with the Federal Court, Ten said it would rely on defences of truth and qualified privilege.Wilkinson famously basked in her triumph at last year’s awards ceremony.’After 40 years in journalism, this interview and this story is by far the most important work I have ever done,’ she told the audience at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre. ‘And I knew it from the very first phone call I had last year from a young woman whose name, she told me, was Brittany Higgins. ‘As Brittany warned me before we went to air, her story would be seen by many of the most powerful people in this country not as a human problem, but as a political problem.’ Mr Lehrmann stood trial in the ACT Supreme Court last year after pleading not guilty to sexually assaulting Ms Higgins, but the trial was abandoned due to juror misconduct.The charges were later dropped by the Director of Public Prosecutions and Mr Lehrmann has continued to deny the allegation.He is also suing the ABC over its live broadcast of Ms Higgins’ address to the National Press Club on February 9, 2022. He claims broadcasting the address implied he had raped Ms Higgins even though he was not named in the speech.