Breaking: Legal fight involving ex-Carlton president Luke Sayers to play out publicly

Defamation case involving former Carlton president Luke Sayers to be heard publicly after failed court bid Wed 3 Jun 2026 at 11:35am A bitter legal fight between former Carlton president Luke Sayers and his wife over a lewd photo is set to play out in the public eye, after Victoria's Supreme Court ruled the defamation case should stay in its jurisdiction. A photo of Mr Sayers's penis was posted on his X (formerly Twitter) account in January 2025, leading him to step down as Carlton president. Mr Sayers denied posting the image, saying his account was "hacked". A year later, his wife, Cate, sued him for defamation in the Supreme Court, alleging Mr Sayers provided a statutory declaration to AFL investigators falsely stating that she was responsible for accessing his X account and publishing the picture. Mr Sayers applied to have the case transferred to the Federal Circuit and Family Court, a move that would have effectively prevented media reporting of the case. However, Justice Andrew Watson has dismissed the application, saying the Supreme Court is the more appropriate venue to decide the matter A trial could take place in November. Loading