A defamation case brought by Cate Sayers against her estranged husband, former Carlton president Luke Sayers, has ended with a public apology in the Supreme Court of Victoria.
The settlement was announced before Justice Andrew Watson in Melbourne on Friday, September 11, 2026, bringing an end to proceedings over claims that Ms Sayers had been wrongly blamed for an explicit image posted to Mr Sayers’ X account.
Mr Sayers was not in court, while Ms Sayers attended with her legal team. The financial and other terms of the settlement remain confidential.
In a statement, Mr Sayers said he acknowledged the “extreme hurt and harm” caused by suggestions that his wife had posted, or might have posted, the image.
“I accept that she did not do this. To the extent that I may have suggested otherwise, I apologise unreservedly to her,” he said.
Ms Sayers said the apology had brought to a close a “painful and difficult chapter” and confirmed that she was not responsible for publishing the image.
“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,” she said.
The dispute centred on an incident on January 8, 2025, when a photograph of Mr Sayers’ penis was posted from his X account while he was holidaying in Italy. The post tagged a senior executive at Bupa, a sponsor of Carlton Football Club, before being deleted about 15 minutes later.
The account subsequently posted: “Sorry my account has been hacked – please ignore all posts.” Mr Sayers later denied publishing the image, saying he did not personally manage his social media accounts and was in the shower when it appeared.
Ms Sayers also denied posting the photograph and said she was staying at a different hotel from her husband at the time. She alleged in court documents that Mr Sayers had defamed her in a statutory declaration provided to an AFL inquiry.
The documents further alleged that claims about Ms Sayers’ mental health had been made during the fallout. She denied those claims and said her reputation had been damaged by the spread of allegations through “gossip” and what she called the “grapevine effect”.
An AFL inquiry in 2025 cleared Mr Sayers of breaching league rules. It found, on the available evidence, that his X account had been compromised by “someone who has access to his account”.
Mr Sayers resigned as Carlton president three weeks after the image was posted, ending a 12-year association with the club. At the time, he said he deeply regretted the impact of the incident on his family, friends, colleagues and the football club.
His attempt to have the defamation proceedings transferred to the Family Court was rejected in June. The move would have placed restrictions on media reporting, while Ms Sayers argued that a public hearing was necessary if she was to be vindicated.
A trial had been scheduled for November, but the confidential settlement and apology have now brought the case to an end.
