<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>330917</docID> <postdate>2024-10-14 15:29:21</postdate> <headline>Lehrmann’s ‘only shot’ at income on OnlyFans: lawyer</headline> <body><p><img class="size-full wp-image-330918" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/20240617190869757090-original-resized.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="600" /></p> <caption>Bruce Lehrmann should pay $200,000 security to pursue his appeal, a judge has heard. (Jono Searle/AAP PHOTOS)</caption> <p><span class="kicker-line">By <strong>Miklos Bolza</strong> in Sydney</span></p> <p><strong>Bruce Lehrmann's financial state and reputation are so dire that his only chance to earn an income could be starting an account on OnlyFans, his lawyer says.</strong></p> <p>The former Liberal staffer is fighting a bid by Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson that would force him to pay $200,000 in security to sustain his appeal of a devastating defamation loss.</p> <p>His lawyer Zali Burrows told a Federal Court hearing on Monday her client was living on Centrelink benefits in part because the broadcaster contributed to his image as a rapist.</p> <p>"It's a bit rich (Ten and Wilkinson) asking him to put up $200,000 when they are one of the contributors as to why he's pretty much unemployable," she told Justice Wendy Abraham.</p> <p>"The only shot he'd probably ever (have) in making money is going on OnlyFans or something silly like that."</p> <p>The website is known for its adult content, which is provided to paying account subscribers.</p> <p>Ten's contributions to Lehrmann's negative public image included applying with other media organisations to lift a suppression order on his name in a criminal case in Toowoomba, Ms Burrows said.</p> <p>In that case, Lehrmann faces two charges of sexual intercourse without consent. He has not entered a plea, and his solicitor said he would contest the charges.</p> <p>Ten has already served a bankruptcy notice on the former Liberal staffer but agreed not to take any further steps until the appeal is resolved.</p> <p>Ms Burrows said there was a power imbalance between the 29-year-old and Ten, which could make $200,000 on advertising revenue just covering the appeal.</p> <p>She described the application for security as a "bullying tactic just to hard fist it".</p> <p>The publicity behind the case had "smashed" Lehrmann, she said.</p> <p>He faced mental health issues such that he had chosen to watch Monday's hearing on the live-stream rather than face the media throng outside court, she said.</p> <p>The 29-year-old sued over a February 2021 report on The Project interviewing Brittany Higgins about her allegations she was sexually assaulted in Parliament House in March 2019.</p> <p>In April, Justice Michael Lee ruled that the 29-year-old sexually assaulted Ms Higgins in the office of their then-boss, senator Linda Reynolds, based on the balance of probabilities.</p> <p>Lehrmann was reckless as to whether Ms Higgins consented to the sexual intercourse, the judge found without declaring that he actually knew she did not consent.</p> <p>The 29-year-old denies the claim and is not facing criminal charges over the incident after his trial was aborted due to juror misconduct.</p> <p>Ten's barrister Matt Collins KC pushed for the $200,000 payment on Monday, saying some of Lehrmann's grounds of appeal were "hopeless" while others were only "faintly arguable".</p> <p>It was not in the public interest to allow the case to go to another hearing as it did not involve clarifying the law or undoing a judge's error.</p> <p>"The purpose of an appeal is to correct error, not to give someone a second chance at the O.K. Corral," Dr Collins said.</p> <p>Wilkinson's barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC rejected Lehrmann's claims he had been blindsided by the way the journalist and Ten's truth defences had been run during the trial.</p> <p>His two very experienced senior counsel had not raised any objections about being "taken by surprise" at the time, she said.</p> <p>Lehrmann launched the defamation case by choice after escaping a criminal conviction or acquittal by jury, Justice Abraham was told.</p> <p>"His impecuniosity did not deprive him of having his day in court and he's had it," Ms Chrysanthou said.</p> <p>"Why should he get another day in court at the cost of the respondents?"</p> <p>Lehrmann has been ordered to pay $2 million in legal costs to Ten, which estimates its full legal bill was actually $3.1 million, while his bill for Wilkinson's defence costs is still being hashed out.</p> <p>Justice Abraham has also been asked by Lehrmann to stay these costs orders while the appeal is on foot.</p> <p>She has reserved her decision.</p> </body>