Leaked texts detail Spotlight EP Mark Llewellyn’s ‘warped sense of humour’

Former Spotlight executive producer Mark Llewellyn has revealed he wanted producer Taylor Auerbach sacked after he admitted to using a Channel 7 credit card to pay $10,000 to two Thai masseuses in a single night, and says the producer sent him messages of praise for his “rare ability to make a corporate cafeteria feel like the Moulin Rouge”.

In a lengthy response to the Four Corners program, Mr Llewellyn has detailed his shock and concern after learning from his “talented” producer that he had spent $10,000 on a corporate credit card, and released text messages he exchanged with him.

He said expletive-filled texts the pair exchanged were part of an in-joke, and their “warped sense of humour”, including when he joked about bashing his head in with a cricket bat.

“Taylor was a mate, which is why the sense of betrayal by someone I liked and cared deeply for will never leave me,’’ Mr Llewellyn said.

“For context, Taylor and I shared a mutual love of absurd word play. This included a silly game which he and I created where we would speculate on what was the most ridiculous or un-PC thing you could get away with by finishing a sentence with the line ‘said the actor in the play I am writing’.

“He was not only in on the joke, he was an instigator of it. I do not know if the ABC is aware of this, but Taylor certainly is.

“For further context, for some time in the early years of Spotlight there were just three people on the production team: me, Steve Jackson, and Taylor Auerbach. We were the best of friends, worked long hours and ‘joshed’ robustly as close mates working in a small team do, sometimes over email.

“In retrospect, it is a mistake I regret, and a lesson harshly learned. It is difficult to see context in print – and too easy to take out-of-context.

“We shared a similar and occasionally warped sense of humour while laughing at our many flaws and dealing with long hours and deadlines. But to suggest this was anything other than comic exaggeration is wrong.”

Lehrmann weighs in on Spotlight furore

Mr Llewellyn has also received a character reference from former Liberal staffer and accused rapist Bruce Lehrmann, who said Mr Llewellyn is not what the ABC paints him to be.

“Mark and his family were there for me in my darkest times and some of my rare, better times,’’ Mr Lehrmann told news.com.au.

Mr Lehrmann has denied raping Brittany Higgins and was never convicted. He is now facing unrelated sexual assault charges in Toowoomba.

Spotlight EP says he wanted to sack Auerbach

Hitting back at claims he refused to accept his resignation after his big night out, the former TV boss has revealed in his 2500 word response that he urged Seven bosses to terminate Mr Auerbach before management decided to give him a second chance.

“For the record, it was not my decision to reject his resignation at the time. It was not my decision to keep him on,’’ Mr Llewellyn said.

Mr Llewellyn said that the use of the credit card was never endorsed by himself or anyone else at Channel 7.

“Despite vile public speculation, I did not know about this behaviour until after the event and it was not condoned or encouraged by me,’’ he said.

“To be clear, nor was the reference to ‘per diems’ code for cocaine and sex workers, or anything unlawful.”

‘Holocaust pyjamas’

He admitted to a sense of “betrayal” over the allegations that emerged in the Four Corners program, which reported on messages where he referred to Mr Auerbach a a c**t and asked if he was wearing “Holocaust pyjamas”. Mr Auerbach is Jewish.

“The suggestion that I am anti-Semitic is simply untrue. It is hurtful and defamatory. My history both publicly and privately is that I am avowedly and proudly pro-Jewish and pro-Israel, especially after the October 7 atrocities,’’ he said.

“To suggest that there even is an ounce of antisemitism in my body is abhorrent.

“This slur sickens me to my core.”

A tremendously talented person

In one message Mr Llewellyn released overnight to outline the pair’s personal friendship, he said he regarded Mr Auerbach as “a tremendously talented person.”

“It was good to talk at the end of the last week. I am very sorry you are going through a rough time,’’ he wrote to Mr Auerbach in 2023.

“I have always thought of you as a tremendously talented person: smart, thoughtful, and unafraid to be different from ‘the pack’. You have so much potential.

“As someone with the scars from an eventful 60 years, I hope I can offer some worthwhile and heartfelt advice because, at 30, you have the critical opportunity to make decisions that will bring you long term rewards.

Moulin Rouge in the 7 cafeteria

On his last day at Channel 7, Mr Llewlleyn said he received the following message from Mr Auerbach after he put in a workers compensation claim.

“I imagine my lawyers will probably tell me soon enough not to make any contact with anyone involved until this is all sorted,’’ Mr Auerbach wrote to his boss.

“I will follow their advice. So I wanted to say while I still can, and based on acute personal experience: You have inside you such immense talent, joie de vivre, sense of mischief, lust for daring, adventure and the absurd. Abundant wit, intelligence, creativity, humour, panache, flair, style, honesty and class. A big heart, a sense of justice and a weakness for the underdog.

“Everything I love about life, everything I admire in a person and everything I am proud of in my own character. You have that rare ability to make a corporate cafeteria feel like the Moulin Rouge. You’ve often said in jest that I have all of your vices and none of your virtues. I like to think it’s a little more nuanced than that.

“So please look after yourself, not just physically and mentally, but look after your character. Don’t let others strangle your virtues with their vices.

“People will try to smother you in a dusty, depressing, cruel, angry cloud of grey funk that blinds you, makes you forget who you are, and fools you into thinking that life is an inconvenience that must be tolerated instead of the fascinating cornucopia that it is. Don’t let them.

“Anyway, it’s all from the heart. I wish you every success and nothing but good fortune.”

No ‘boys club’ at Spotlight

The former Spotlight EP said women were not excluded in the office.

“Moreover, to suggest I held court – an all-male court at that – while others did the heavy lifting is demonstrably false,’’ he said.

“My interactions outside of the office were never exclusive of anyone. I enjoy the company of my colleagues, be they men or women.

“For all my faults, ‘a boys club’ is not one of them.”

“I understand there are allegations about unfair workloads. This is pure character assassination,’’ Mr Llewllyn said.

“No one worked longer hours or days than me. I was often first in and last out.

“I worked long into the evening and most weekends. I, more than anyone, understand the toll this can take and am especially sympathetic to the effect it can have on fellow workers.

“Yes, long hours are sometimes what journalists are expected to do when working on a big story, especially if it is a breaking one like, for example, the Queen’s death. Having said that journalism is NOT indentured labour/slavery.

SILLY C**TS

He accepted he may have used swear words but only in jest.

“If I used the word other than only in jest (and I’m pretty sure I didn’t), I apologise – and genuinely. But again, it would only be used in jest, in the way that many Australians in newsrooms and workplaces use it: e.g. you silly c**t. Not in anger but a comic exaggeration.

“I accept this is not an excuse, but it is an explanation. That is obvious from the image in which the word appears in this morning’s news article.

“And certainly, I never used to think Taylor Auerbach was a c**t.

“The fact is that I treated him with great kindness and not just at work; he was welcomed into my home on multiple occasions.”