Checkout defamation case in court

A trial over a long-running dispute around axed ABC consumer show The Checkout this week went to the NSW Supreme Court.

As first revealed by TV Tonight, Giant Dwarf’s’s Julian Morrow (pictured) is suing CJZ producer Nick Murray for defamation and claims his former business partner tried to disrupt plans to renew the series after six seasons.

CJZ has previously claimed Giant Dwarf was deceptive and misleading over its plans for the series, which it did not know about when it agreed to sell its share of their joint venture, The Checkout Pty Ltd, to Giant Dwarf for $50. Morrow further claims Murray reneged on a deal to part ways.

Caught in the crossfire is ABC which will not contemplate a future while the parties are in dispute.

The court heard this week that in 2018 a meeting between Morrow and ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie over the show’s high budget left him disappointed. Morrow says he bumped into David Anderson, then Director of TV, in the ABC foyer, but denies any confrontation.

He also denied that Anderson asked him to leave the building or that any strong words were exchanged.

Meanwhile in the witness box Chaser colleague Chas Licciardello also said he had been “surprised” when he learned Murray had accused Morrow of being underhanded in a contract dispute. Morrow was a “hard-nosed” negotiator but “usually when he has a problem with someone he asserts his view quite stridently … he’ll be up- front.”

The trial continues.

Source: Daily Telegraph, The Age