Emma Husar’s defamation case against BuzzFeed has gone from one ugly turn to the next, with the word “slut”, and who qualifies for the title sitting front and center of proceedings.
A quick recap; in August this year Alice Workman from BuzzFeed produced an article in which she aired claims of sexual misconduct and bullying, brought against Ms Husar, a Labour MP, by her staff.
Allegations included exposing herself to employee’s, bragging about who she was having sex with & misusing political funding and entitlements (including using taxpayer funds to get down to Bruno Mars in Brisbane– and we all know how overpriced those tickets were).
It’s certainly been an anxious few weeks for Husar
The article sparked a mountain of criticism and scandal, with an internal Labour Party investigation upholding the claims of funding abuse, but dismissing claims of sexual harassment.
Ms Husar has launched defamation claims against the site, and that brings up back to where we started this update that beats an uncomfortably familiar drum when we review the year in politics.
The trial kicked off today in Sydney and BuzzFeed’s representative lawyer Tim Senior gave an early implication of how silly we can expect things to be, defending the claim that the article implied she was a “slut.”
Mr Senior and Justice Steven Rares then got into an argument over the meaning of the word “slut”, more akin to pub chat than legal proceedings.
For starters, BuzzFeed did not use the word slut in the article.
“The vice in that conduct is that it’s occurring in the workplace and she’s talking about people she’s slept with who [were known to staff],” said Mr Senior.
“The article contains allegations she] potentially exposed herself in front of another politician, wouldn’t that suggest she was behaving in a sluttish way?” fired back Justice Rares.
“We say it doesn’t go that far,” said Mr Senior.
Amazingly, after deliberation Justice Rares decided to not dismiss the claim by Ms Husar, keeping the “slut” debate alive, with it expected to return to the courts in February.
Ms Husar declined to comment on proceedings, noting that given it was before the court it would be “entirely inappropriate.”
In August Ms Husar said she would not recontest her seat at the next Federal election, but has since changed her mind.
Watch Emma Husar deliver an emotional speech to parliament on domestic violence
