Luke Sayers apologises unreservedly in lewd photo defamation case settlement

A long-running defamation case brought by Cate Sayers against her ex-husband Luke Sayers over a lewd photo has been settled, with Mr Sayers issuing an unreserved apology.

The case, which has played out in the public eye over the past year, centred on a photo of Mr Sayers' penis that was posted on his social media account in January 2025. Mr Sayers denied posting the photo, claiming his account had been hacked.

In the Supreme Court on Friday, Mr Sayers' legal counsel read a statement from Mr Sayers apologising "unreservedly" to his ex-wife and acknowledging the "hurt and harm" she had faced. He accepted that she did not post the photo.

"I acknowledge Luke's public apology to me today, including his clear statement that I was not responsible for posting an explicit image on his X account,"

Cate Sayers said outside court. "This brings to a close a painful and difficult chapter that began with extraordinary claims made about me that were accepted without challenge by powerful institutions and powerful people."

Ms Sayers said she had been overwhelmed by the support of many women whose reputations had been treated as "expendable" and thanked them. She declined to disclose whether a financial settlement was part of the deal.

The agreement brings an end to a highly publicised saga that had played out across the media over the past year. Mr Sayers had previously applied to have the case transferred to a different court, a move that would have prevented media reporting of the case.

The photo in question was posted on Mr Sayers' social media account on January 8 last year, while he was in Italy with his then-wife and daughters. An inquiry launched by the AFL cleared Mr Sayers of breaching AFL rules and found that access to his account "was compromised".

Ms Sayers had argued that her ex-husband made numerous false claims in his statutory declaration to the AFL, including information about her mental health and sexual history.