Defamation battle between Luke Sayers and ex-wife Cate ends with apology

A bitter legal battle between former Carlton president Luke Sayers and his ex-wife has ended with a in-court apology.

Cate Sayers sued her ex-husband at the start of this year, levelling allegations he defamed her and damaged her reputation by falsely blaming her for a lewd image posted to his X account on the morning of January 8 last year.

At the time, Mr Sayers was in Italy on holiday, while Ms Sayers and their daughters were also in the country.

A photo of Mr Sayers’ penis was shared on the platform, with the post tagging a senior executive at Bupa, a Carlton Football Club sponsor.

About 15 minutes later the photo was deleted, with the account then posting: “Sorry my account has been hacked – please ignore all posts.”

Three weeks later Mr Sayers resigned from Carlton after 12 years at the club, saying he was grateful for the support he had received.

“I deeply regret that many other people including my family, friends and colleagues and football club have been caught up in this matter,” he said at the time.

The case returned before Justice Andrew Watson in the Supreme Court of Victoria on Friday morning as the parties said they had reached a settlement that would end the proceedings.

Mr Sayers, the court was told, apologised for suggesting Ms Sayers was responsible for the image being posted.

He was not present in the courtroom, while Ms Sayers attended with her lawyers.

In a statement, Mr Sayers said he apologised “unreservedly”.

“I acknowledge the extreme hurt and harm to Cate Sayers occasioned by the suggestion that has been circulating that she posted or may have posted an explicit image on my X account,” he said.

“I accept that she did not do this. To the extent that I may have suggested otherwise, I apologise unreservedly to her.”

Ms Sayers said the apology brings to a close a “painful and difficult chapter that began with extraordinary claims being made about me”.

“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,” she said.

“I commenced these proceedings to establish the truth clearly, and finally with Luke’s apology today, I feel I have achieved what I set out to do.

“I have been overwhelmed by the support of so many women, and others, including many whose reputations have been treated as expendable. “I want to thank those people who reached out to me in solidarity. I hope today’s outcome gives some strength to you all. “I now intend to move forward with my life with dignity.”

In documents filed with the Victorian Supreme Court, Ms Sayers had alleged her ex defamed her in a statutory declaration shared with an internal AFL inquiry into the X posting.

She denied she had posted the picture and argued she was wrongly blamed.

Mr Sayers had also denied he posted the d**k pic, claiming he did not manage his own social media accounts and that he was in the shower when the post was made.

In 2025, the AFL inquiry cleared Mr Sayers of breaching AFL rules and found, based on the available evidence, that his X account had been compromised by “someone who has access to his account”.

Earlier this year, Ms Sayers’ barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC said her client had found out from media reports that Mr Sayers had allegedly “blamed” her for the post in the AFL’s inquiry.

Mr Sayers had also allegedly claimed his ex-wife suffered from mental illness and had, at times, refused to take medication, which Ms Sayers denies.

Ms Sayers claimed in court documents the incident had harmed her reputation, with the allegations being disseminated through “gossip” and “the grapevine effect”.

In June, Mr Sayers lost an effort to have the case heard in the Family Court, a move that would have effectively prevented media reporting due to legal restrictions.

The request was opposed by Ms Sayers, who argued she may not be able to be publicly vindicated if a finding came in her favour.

The trial had been scheduled for November.