Channel Ten has charged Bruce Lehrmann $2.5 million over his failed defamation case.
Lehrmann suffered massive legal damages against the network and Lisa Wilkinson in April when Federal Court Judge Michael Lee found that, on the balance of probabilities, he had raped Brittany Higgins at Parliament House in March 2019.
He had sued for defamation over a February 2021 episode of The Project, in which Ms Higgins first made her rape allegations in an interview with Wilkinson.
The former employee was not named on the broadcast but claimed friends and colleagues were able to identify him as Ms Higgins’ rapist.
As the loser of the lawsuit, Lehrmann is expected to pay at least some of the costs of the lawsuit.
Daily Mail Australia understands the hefty bill was sent to Lehrmann at 9.30am on Monday ahead of a costs hearing in the Federal Court.
Channel Ten has charged Bruce Lehrmann $2.5 million over his failed defamation case
Earlier in May, the court heard that Lehrmann has no undisclosed backer financing the case.
His lawyer Paul Svilans told the court that his client had nothing to present because there were no agreements.
The only agreement Lehrmann had was with defamation law firm Mark O’Brien Legal, which handled the case for him on a no-win, no-fee basis.
Judge Lee said: ‘The two main points are: yes, many costs were incurred, but they are not recoverable because Mr Lehrmann … lost.’
He said Lehrmann might go bankrupt.
More to come
