The Herald Sun has apologised to Victorian Liberal MP Sam Groth and his wife, Brittany, for a series of articles earlier this year that suggested their relationship had begun when Brittany was underage.
Groth was suing publisher the Herald and Weekly Times, reporter Stephen Drill and Herald Sun editor Sam Weir for defamation, while his wife had launched the first test of a new statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy.
Published under the headline “Apology to Sam and Brittany Groth”, featuring prominently on the main page of the Herald Sun website on Tuesday and on page two of the print edition, the apology to the couple said: “In July and August 2025, the Herald Sun published a series of articles about Sam Groth and Brittany Groth.
“The Herald Sun did not intend to suggest and does not suggest that Mr and Mrs Groth have engaged in any wrongdoing.
“The Herald Sun recognises that this story has taken a significant toll on the Groth family and apologises to the Groths for the hurt the articles caused.”
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The articles alleged the couple met at a tennis club in suburban Melbourne and began a sexual relationship when Brittany was 16 or 17 and Sam – then a professional player – was 23 or 24 and working as her coach, the court was told.
The Groths alleged in submissions to the court that the articles wrongly outed Brittany as a victim of child sexual assault who was preyed upon by her now-husband when he was her coach.
The apology comes just days after reports in the Nine newspapers that the Groths had settled their defamation and invasion of privacy cases on terms that included an apology, retraction of the offending articles and a six-figure settlement sum.
Guardian Australia was unable to independently confirm the reports, but the offending articles have been taken offline.
Mediation had been scheduled for early November following initial hearings for the case that began in late October.
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