On Thursday, about 27,000 people watched the online stream of the defamation trial brought by Bruce Lehrmann against Network Ten and its former star journalist, Lisa Wilkinson. Truth is stranger than fiction, and often more entertaining, although the objective truths of the Higgins/Lehrmann matter grow ever more obscure with each fresh piece of litigation.

The defamation trial was dramatically reopened – just days before a judgment on the matter was expected from Justice Michael Lee – to hear evidence from former Channel Seven producer Taylor Auerbach.

Artwork — Kathleen Adele Credit:

It’s hard to imagine how the evidence could have been any more sordid. Auerbach told the court that Seven paid for prostitutes, dinners and even cocaine in an effort to secure an exclusive interview with Lehrmann. Seven put out a statement denying any corporate knowledge of the unusual expenses. Lehrmann’s barrister attacked Auerbach’s credibility and motivations.

If you’ve lost the narrative thread, don’t beat yourself up. It’s hard to remember how any of it is relevant to the original defamation action, let alone the matter Lehrmann is suing over – Higgins’ claim in a February 2021 television interview with Wilkinson that she was raped by a colleague in Parliament House.

Lehrmann was not named in that interview, on Network Ten, but he argues he was identifiable anyway. He was later tried for the rape, but the trial was abandoned due to juror misconduct. He vehemently denies the allegation.

Justice Lee seemed conscious of the wild turns the case was taking when he presided over the second part of Auerbach’s evidence on Friday. “I am just concerned how far we are going down what is looking like a rabbit hole,” he said at one point. “I want to put this back in a box.”

Lee was referring to the people Auerbach was mentioning in his evidence, including his former bosses at Seven. Auerbach is a self-confessed disaffected ex-employee who admits he “hates” his former boss. Lee made the point that the people he was traducing in his evidence didn’t have a chance to defend themselves.

But it’s too late for any of this to go back into the box, so to speak. The whole saga long ago jumped the shark, and it’s about as awful as it gets in terms of human behaviour and the personal desolation of all involved.