Craig McLachlan

On 8 January 2018, a joint investigation by Fairfax Media and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported that McLachlan had been accused of sexual harassment by several actresses during his performing career.[12][13] Three actresses from the 2014 Australian production of The Rocky Horror Show – Christie Whelan Browne, Erika Heynatz and Angela Scundi – made allegations against McLachlan. He responded, "Frankly, they seem to be simple inventions, perhaps made for financial reasons, perhaps to gain notoriety. In either event, they are to the best of my knowledge utterly and entirely false."[12][13] McLachlan subsequently left the 2018 production of The Rocky Horror Show.[1] Victoria Police announced they were investigating complaints from two of the women.[14]

McLachlan filed defamation suits against the ABC and Fairfax Media in February 2018; he also named Whelan Browne in a defamation suit.[15] Producers of The Doctor Blake Mysteries announced that production would be temporarily suspended pending the outcome of investigations.[14] The production company, December Media, "cleared the actor of any misconduct" during the show's run.[16] In April, it was announced McLachlan would not be returning to the series.[16]

McLachlan's defamation case was due to be heard in the Supreme Court of New South Wales from 4 February 2019;[17][18] however, the suit was postponed pending the outcome of the related criminal proceedings.[19] On 11 January 2019, Victoria Police charged him with one count of common assault, eight counts of indecent assault and one count of attempted indecent assault.[17][18][20] At a hearing in April 2019 it came to light that one of the indecent assault charges had been dropped and that the case would be determined by a magistrate alone.[21] In November 2019, a contested hearing of the charges began, with Stuart Littlemore as defence lawyer.[22][23] The trial ended on 15 December 2020 with McLachlan acquitted on all charges.[24]

The magistrate described McLachlan's evidence as contrived and his emotions as "not seeming genuine", also characterising the women who gave evidence as "brave and honest witnesses".[25] The magistrate also said that McLachlan likely touched the women while they were performing, but that she [the magistrate] was not persuaded beyond a reasonable doubt he knew they were not consenting. During the course of the trial, McLachlan's lawyers argued "there was an overtly sexualised atmosphere among all cast members during the show that included crude physical pranks, hugs and kisses instead of saying hello and goodbye, actors sitting on each other's laps, a constant stream of dirty jokes and insincere remarks about their admiration and love for each other".[24]

In May 2021, Seven News' Spotlight programme claimed that the ABC had "manipulated" McLachlan's accusers when it interviewed the women in 2018. The programme showed ABC journalists (off camera) appearing to coach the accusers by offering specific words and phases for them to say in their interview, such as "predatory" and "power imbalance".[26][27] The ABC rejected those claims.[28] McLachlan filed a defamation suit against the ABC and Nine newspapers over media reports of the 2014 Rocky Horror Show tour allegations for which he was tried and acquitted.[26] On 15 May 2021, fresh allegations were made about the actor's behaviour,[29][30] including from Jeanne Downs, a former UK television star who accused the actor of groping her live while a guest on her popular children's show in 1990.[31][32] McLachlan applied to discontinue the suit ten days into the trial, on the same day the defence was set to begin calling witnesses.[33]

McLachlan's partner is opera conductor Vanessa Scammell, whom he met in 2009.[34] He has a child from his relationship with British actress and voice artist Charlotte Avery.[35][36][34] McLachlan was briefly married to Karen Williams (fl. 1986) with whom he had attended the same secondary school, and he was subsequently married to Neighbours' actress Rachel Friend (1998–99).[34][37]

• Craig McLachlan at IMDb