Luke Sayers ‘shamelessly’ blamed wife for lewd picture

Former Carlton president Luke Sayers allegedly told the AFL his estranged wife was “mentally disturbed” as he sought to distance himself from an embarrassing lewd picture scandal.

The claims are contained in court documents as part of a defamation action brought by Cate Sayers, who alleges her former husband falsely blamed her for publishing a photograph of his penis on his X account in January last year.

In the documents filed in Victoria’s Supreme Court, Cate Sayers alleges her ex-husband told the AFL Integrity Unit and Carlton officials that she had accessed his account without his knowledge and posted “a photograph of Luke’s penis on his X account”.

She claims the statements damaged her reputation and falsely portrayed her as unstable, erratic and suffering from mental illness.

The documents also allege Sayers disclosed details of his wife’s private life, including her sexual history and medical information, to support his claim.

“The information was used to present her as unstable, untrustworthy, erratic, mentally disturbed and/or presenting as a live risk to her own safety,” the court documents claim.

Cate Sayers has asked the court for damages for the hurt, distress and embarrassment caused by the saga.

The scandal erupted in January 2025 when an explicit image of a penis briefly appeared on Sayer’s X account, tagging a senior Bupa executive. The post was removed about 15 minutes later, with Sayer’s claiming he had been hacked.

The AFL’s Integrity Unit investigation later found Sayers was not responsible for posting the photo and had not breached any rules. He stepped down as Carlton’s president.

The latest court documents were released as part of the defamation case launched against Sayers, who is also a former chief executive of PwC Australia.

Luke Sayers has not yet filed a defence to the case, and a spokesman said he would not comment.

In January, Bronte and Claudia Sayers – two of the four Sayers daughters – released a joint statement saying they stood behind their father, and were willing to give evidence supporting his legal defence.