1 month ago
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The estranged wife of Luke Sayers has confirmed she has launched legal action against the former Carlton president over an embarrassing lewd picture scandal that led to his resignation from the AFL club.
Cate Sayers has filed the defamation writ in the Supreme Court, alleging that Sayers implied she was responsible for posting a picture of a naked man, including his penis, on his social media account.
Luke and Cate Sayers at the Brownlow Medal in September 2024, shortly before the photo scandal erupted.Credit: Getty Images
It is also alleged that her estranged husband made damaging claims about her mental health as he battled to deal with the fallout from the scandal.
Sayers was on holiday in Italy when the image, which did not show the man’s face, appeared on his account in January last year and also tagged a female executive of Bupa, one of the club’s corporate partners. It was taken down 13 minutes later.
Sayers quickly apologised, saying he had been hacked, and asked people to “ignore all posts” before deactivating his account.
He resigned from the Blues board two weeks later. The couple is no longer together.
“We can confirm that proceedings have been commenced in the Supreme Court of Victoria,” a spokesman for Cate Sayers said in a statement to the Australian Financial Review on Tuesday.
“As the matter is now before the court, it would be inappropriate to comment further.”
An AFL investigation in January last year found Sayers was not responsible for posting the lewd picture and had not breached any rules.
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The league released a statement saying that ex-Carlton boss’ X account had been compromised and that the image was posted by a person other than the Blues president.
Sayers also released a statement at the time of his resignation, describing the post as “unauthorised”.
He said he deeply regretted that “many other people including my family, friends and colleagues, and my football club, have been caught up in this matter”.
“I am aware of speculation that the naming of another person in the post explains why it happened. It does not, and that narrative is wrong. I am so sorry for the hurt that has caused,” he said.
“I deeply regret that many other people including my family, friends and colleagues, and my football club, have been caught up in this matter.”
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