Embattled actor Craig McLachlan, currently the centre of some unsavoury sexual assault allegations, has said he will sue both Fairfax Media and the ABC following their reporting.
The two media bodies combined in a joint investigation to expose allegations that McLachlan sexually harassed three women – actresses Christie Whelan Browne, Angela Scundi and Erika Heynatz – during a 2014 production of The Rocky Horror Show where McLachlan played the lead role.
Neither the ABC or Fairfax has yet responded to McLachlan’s claims.
Since the allegations aired, more former colleagues have come forward alleging the 52-year-old had been inappropriate while filming the ABC’s The Doctor Blake Mysteries. Seven, who now hold the rights to the Dr Blake series, has reportedly halted the filming while a police investigation takes place.
In an interview with News’ The Sunday Telegraph yesterday, Craig McLachlan said he would “fight” the allegations and “the truth, the truth will come out”. He described the allegations against him as “difficult to articulate the horror” before adding: “How can this be? That 30-plus years of a great reputation and history can be not just brought into doubt but annihilated. It’s extraordinary, and it’s wrong.”
McLachlan has hired the law firm Mark O’Brien Legal to instigate defamation proceedings against Fairfax and the ABC. The firm’s principal, Mark O’Brien, telling The Tele: “It’s a serious and indefensible defamation and he wants to prove in court the allegations are completely false.”
The three actresses involved all accuse McLachlan of indecent assault, sexual harassment and indecent exposure. While, McLachlan said his behaviour was all part of the bawdy/un-PC nature of The Rocky Horror Show.
