• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Europe Breaking News

Breaking News Stories from Europe and Around the World

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Disclaimers
  • DMCA
  • Privacy Policy
  • Submit your story
  • Show Search
Hide Search

You are here: Home / Tracey Spicer accuses three women of defamation after ABC #MeToo documentary

Tracey Spicer accuses three women of defamation after ABC #MeToo documentary

· December 2, 2019 ·

Journalist Tracey Spicer has accused three women of defamation after part one of her three-part documentary series Silent No More, about sexual assault and violence, was aired on the ABC.

Spicer, who hosts the documentary, drew criticism from sexual assault and family violence survivors and advocates after the ABC failed to blur out the names of some survivors of sexual abuse or harassment before the documentary was posted on its media-only TV publicity site.

Advocates argued Spicer should never have allowed the details to be filmed. A portion of one woman’s email to Spicer was filmed by camera crews without the woman’s consent, which was particularly concerning to the woman because her alleged abuser worked in the media.

The ABC edited out the stories and details of the women affected before broadcasting the documentary.

On Monday, before part two of the documentary was aired on the ABC, lawyer Michael Bradley from Marque Lawyers confirmed three clients had received a letter from Spicer’s lawyers about social media posts in relation to the exposure of the survivors’ details. One client was the woman whose alleged abuser worked in the media. Another was not part of the documentary but is an advocate for assault survivors.

“It’s basically a letter of demand stating my clients have been defaming her and ordering certain social media posts be taken down,” Bradley told Guardian Australia. “They were pretty disappointed to receive the notices. They have no interest in getting involved in a legal fight.”

Spicer’s lawyers also demanded an apology from the women and $1,500 in legal costs from one of the women. Bradley told Guardian Australia the women had removed social media posts but no legal fees had been paid to Spicer, and they had not apologised.

After news of Spicer’s letter was published by News Ltd on Monday Spicer told Guardian Australia she had sent the notices to the women in order to avoid taking legal action.

“There are many factual inaccuracies in today’s news.com.au article, including the headline,” she said in a written statement. “No notice has been issued to any of the women who appear in the documentary. Any legal notices issued on my behalf aimed to correct inaccuracies or misinformation placed in the public domain which were distressing to the survivors who bravely told their stories in Silent No More. These private notices were sent in a genuine attempt to resolve the issue outside of the litigation process.”

She did not expand on what the inaccuracies were.

When it was first revealed that the ABC had failed to blur the women’s names in the publicity version of documentary, it apologised for the error, saying: “We removed the program from our media portal as soon as we became aware of the error.

“The welfare of those who have suffered sexual abuse or harassment is of utmost importance to the ABC and we wish to assure them that Silent No More will treat these issues with respect and care while shining a light on the need for positive change in this area.”

Spicer said at the time she was “utterly gutted” by the error: “I apologise deeply and unreservedly to those whose names were visible in that initial version of the program.”

Spicer was promoting the documentary on Monday, tweeting: “Tonight’s episode will feature Mandy, one of the rare survivors who won her case, and dissects the backlash against #metoo.”

In November Spicer accepted the Sydney peace prize alongside the US-based founder of the #MeToo movement, Tarana Burke, for her award-winning investigations into sexual harassment in media workplaces.

Topics

  • Australian media
  • #MeToo movement
  • Australian Broadcasting Corporation
  • news
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share via Email
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Messenger
  • Reuse this content

  • Documentary chronicles shocking child bride cases in US
  • Accusations Against Plácido Domingo Divide the Opera World
  • City of Portland Rejects Left-Wing Activists' Defamation Claim
  • A #MeToo Wave Hits Global Soccer as the Women’s World Cup Begins
  • ‘Believe all women’ makes the ‘Pence rule’ just common sense
  • Cosby appeal to test limits of #MeToo-era justice
  • Carla Wallach: Drawing the line on #MeToo
  • Olivia Munn: Sexual assault accusers should provide proof
  • As the ‘face’ of the #MeToo movement, Tarana Burke is carving out space for a ‘unicorn’
  • Gillibrand wants more focus on working women

Filed Under: Media Australian media, #MeToo movement, Australia news, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Media, Australian Broadcasting Corpora, accused documentary, accused metoo, accused documentary channel 5, actors accused under metoo, metoo woman accused, watergate documentary abc, defamation documentary, defamation for false accusation, defamation metoo, defamation documentary youtube, defamation documentary film, falsely accused metoo, falsely accused of harassment defamation, metoo falsely accused, liberian women's peace movement documentary, tracey spicer sleazebags, metoo accusers, netflix wrongfully accused documentary, best wrongfully accused documentary, documentaries about wrongly accused, metoo accused, accusation of defamation, whiteley documentary abc

Primary Sidebar

RSS Recent Stories

  • China tells government offices to remove all foreign computer equipment
  • New Zealand floods: essentials run out for tourists stranded in Franz Josef
  • BBC bosses ordered to chop up their Christmas tree by health and safety chiefs just hours after it was put up
  • Wigan’s Ian Lenagan calls RFL’s dealings with Bradford Bulls a ‘festering sore’
  • Cyrano de Bergerac review – James McAvoy is fierce in radical reboot of romantic classic
Copyright © 2019 Europe Breaking News. Power by Wordpress.