Former Carlton AFL president Luke Sayers has been granted a court order allowing him to seek the exclusion of specific documents from his ongoing defamation legal battle with his estranged wife, Cate. The ruling permits Sayers to review documents from the AFL, Carlton Football Club, his advisor Sharon McCrohan, and an executive from his investment firm, Julie Trainor, and then decide which he will claim legal professional privilege over.
Cate Sayers initiated defamation proceedings following a social media incident in early 2025 involving an explicit photo posted from Luke Sayers' X account. She alleges that her estranged husband falsely implied she was responsible for the post, which depicted his flaccid penis. Mrs. Sayers has also accused him of privacy invasion and of falsely suggesting she was behind the publication of the explicit image.
Luke Sayers has maintained that his account was compromised by hackers before he resigned as Carlton president. He was subsequently cleared of wrongdoing by the AFL following an integrity unit investigation.
The court's decision means that the four parties—AFL, Carlton Football Club, McCrohan, and Trainor—will provide the requested documents to Mr. Sayers. He can then assert legal professional privilege to prevent their disclosure to Mrs. Sayers and her legal team. The AFL is also expected to claim privilege over some of the documents, according to reports.
Exposed text messages between the couple were included in an affidavit filed with the Victorian Supreme Court. In an exchange from January 22 of the previous year, the day Sayers was cleared by the AFL and Carlton, Mrs. Sayers expressed frustration. "Read the media… You are once again cleared – you looked after yourself well but your media people have left it on me – thanks," she wrote.
Mr. Sayers responded, "Babe no no no… it couldn't have been clearer in the statement." Mrs. Sayers countered, "Ffs read the statement. No. You didn't say a hacker or an unrelated person to you had access. The world thinks I posted it. Thanks."
Further argument arose over Mr. Sayers' use of the term 'unauthorised' in a statement he made upon stepping aside from Carlton. While he contended it referred to a hacker, Mrs. Sayers disputed this, stating, "A hacker is a criminal you file a police report against."
Mr. Sayers then sent an emotional plea, writing, "I have tried to call you. I love you. It breaks my heart how you are feeling. Nobody we know thinks in any way you did it, that's all that matters. We must both ignore the media and restart as if it's 2020. We are no longer in the public eye babe." He later suggested meeting at a London hotel, to which Mrs. Sayers replied, "No. I am furious with you. I need space. Find another hotel."