Menu
Sign In Search Podcasts Libraries Charts People & Topics Add Podcast API Blog Pricing
Podcast Image

NOT GUILTY - The Craig McLachlan Case

UNFILTERED EPISODE 7

22 Apr 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: What allegations did Craig McLachlan face related to the Rocky Horror Show?

3.44 - 21.181 Unknown

I cannot have Craig use what he did to me against me twice and make me look like the bad guy.

0

22.943 - 30.392 Michael Caine

Unfiltered. Episode 7.

0

33.494 - 62.854 Vanessa Scammell

Hello, my name is Vanessa Scammell, and in Episode 7 of Unfiltered Season 2, Michael Caine and Craig McLachlan reflect on the not guilty Episode 7, The Bed Scene. It is finally time to hear from Craig McLachlan about the scene which made headline news. The bed scene of the Rocky Horror Show. A scene that was a crowd favourite, riotously funny and iconic to the show.

0

Chapter 2: How did the 2014 bed scene become a pivotal point in the allegations?

62.894 - 93.302 Vanessa Scammell

How did this scene become a crime scene as alleged by Craig's former friend and colleague C-1? How did charges come about and how and why was the bed scene and indeed the direction of the show not properly investigated by the Victorian police and indeed the journalists who wrote the initial story? It is finally time to put the 2014 Rocky Horror Show bed scene, well, to bed.

0

94.885 - 108.557 Vanessa Scammell

The interview begins with Michael Caine referencing another high-profile Me Too case that involved the international artist Anthony Lister, a man who was also found not guilty.

0

111.895 - 139.137 Craig McLachlan

Craig, Margaret Kinney in QC fought a big case in which Lister was found not guilty. And she made a statement about how we live in a time where people are encouraged and told how brave they are doing this to help others and this will save others. She likened it to going on some type of crusade, which sort of seems similar as to what you've experienced. Absolutely.

0

Chapter 3: What inconsistencies were found in the testimony surrounding the case?

139.718 - 160.056 Craig McLachlan

And, you know, Michael, a good friend of ours, early days when all of this stuff erupted, got in touch to say, hey, listen, a friend of mine has just got in touch with me. He's received an email from, and I won't mention, the publishing house. Hey, have you ever worked with Craig McLaughlin? We want to hear any stories you have, but we don't want to hear any good ones. So think about it.

0

160.517 - 186.748 Craig McLachlan

You've basically been handed a license to go for gold, and it's just wrong. Today, we're going to look at complainant and his C1. Despite the fact that you were acquitted on all charges in relation to C1, the crusade to muddy your name and reputation has continued to this day. It has. How do you feel about that? Honestly, it's difficult to find the words.

0

186.768 - 210.893 Craig McLachlan

It has been relentless and it ramps up and becomes really ugly in those moments where it appears to the general public that I may be taking a step toward rehabilitating my life and career. It's awful and it's, frankly, it's evil. It's terrible for them, isn't it, to see you trying to, you know, well, getting back out of this black hole that you found yourself in.

0

210.993 - 213.115 Craig McLachlan

It's almost like they just don't want to see you get up.

0

Chapter 4: How did the media and police handle the evidence presented in court?

213.466 - 233.292 Craig McLachlan

That's exactly right. C1 posted comments about Channel 7 and slammed them for putting you on SAS Australia. C1 has slammed the move to put actor Craig McLachlan in the cast of SAS Australia. The brutal military-style Channel 7 show is renowned for its redemption storylines.

0

234.293 - 238.579 Unknown

C1 tweeted that she is... So f***ing sick of this s***.

0

239.369 - 261.999 Craig McLachlan

When you did that, was that cathartic in a way, doing something like that, getting back on the screen? Yes. Yes, it was. There was some trepidation and a little anxiety, not least because I'd be left in the hands of Middleton and his military mates for God knows how many days and nights in the middle of the Jordanian desert.

0

262.119 - 284.346 Craig McLachlan

But just stepping back into the public arena, when your trust has been obliterated, it's a very difficult thing to get your head around. But it was cathartic and it was an experience. I mean, I can't believe I'm saying this because it's taken two years for the aches and pains in my hips and joints to subside. It was well worth doing.

0

284.606 - 295.92 Craig McLachlan

And it was an opportunity for me to say under those intense circumstances that just by the way, acquitted, not guilty. But did you know while you were doing that,

Chapter 5: What was the impact of the allegations on Craig McLachlan's career?

296.643 - 329.689 Craig McLachlan

people were going to throw some pot shots at you? I absolutely knew. I don't think I was ever aware of just how coordinated the efforts would be. Not being social media savvy, I was never aware, Michael, of just how easy it is to coordinate literally an army of loyal devotees and or zealots to, you know, attack. It's practically like a military operation, just like it was on SAS.

0

330.95 - 338.077 Unknown

I think that everyone makes mistakes, me included, and forgiveness is everything.

0

338.758 - 341.02 Vanessa Scammell

July 15, 2018, Sydney Morning Herald.

0

341.641 - 354.493 Craig McLachlan

The bizarre thing is that CY, she wants to get on with her life, but she doesn't want to allow you to get on with yours. Well, it seems I can move forward at a level that's sort of somewhere down here, at least professionally.

0

354.811 - 367.842 Craig McLachlan

But if it looks like I'm going to step out at a level up here professionally, and who knows, maybe get back on track to where my happy, productive, inclusive life once was, that's when the coordinated attacks happen.

368.159 - 390.082 Craig McLachlan

She even chimed in into the Cluedo debacle when Queenie Van Der Zandt, there's a name I had to actually Google who she was, started an online campaign to get you removed, like a coordinated effort. Yes, it was a very coordinated attack. I don't know who Queenie Van Der Zandt is either. Quite frankly, though she claims to know me, she doesn't.

390.843 - 397.39 Craig McLachlan

And that was brutal, particularly when it includes actors who happily signed up to do the job with me.

Chapter 6: How did the courtroom dynamics affect the outcome of the case?

397.37 - 413.994 Craig McLachlan

Queenie, forgive me, I forget her name, Queenie, claimed that the two actors who were named with me knew nothing of it. That's a lie. The producer, John Frost, and others involved with the production sat down and assured me that these two actors knew and they were very excited.

0

414.094 - 430.711 Craig McLachlan

I don't have my mobile phone here, but you'll see the text messages and so on exchanged between me and the director months before an announcement was made. In fact, he texted me only yesterday. give me the lowdown on C1. You worked with her on Grease way back in 2005. 2005.

0

431.512 - 454.608 Craig McLachlan

A rebooted version of the original Grease Arena Spectacular, which I did in 1998, having completed a successful run of Grease in London. And probably the oldest, Danny Zuko, at that point. And it was a huge success and a lot of fun. Yeah. And In an interview, she spoke about being an extrovert way back then and then changed her mind to being an introvert.

0

455.009 - 458.258 Craig McLachlan

Then in 2014, you're both cast in The Rocky Horror Show.

0

Chapter 7: What was revealed about the character of C1 during the discussions?

458.609 - 483.756 Craig McLachlan

Did she change from the early days when you first met her in 2014? The short answer is no, but just to touch on the notion of her being an introvert, I can tell you this, she was anything but an introvert. She was probably the most outrageous person I'd encountered at that point in my career. This is 2005. 2014, certainly nothing had changed.

0

483.736 - 505.423 Craig McLachlan

There was also a sliding doors moment where there was a time when she could have been sacked from the Rocky Horror Show and wasn't. Do you ever think about that? All the time. All the time. What do you think about what could have happened? Well, none of this would have happened. I'm absolutely convinced of that. Why did she nearly get sacked? Well...

0

506.095 - 511.808 Craig McLachlan

If the director was here and you could ask him, he would tell you she treated him appallingly.

0

Chapter 8: What conclusions can be drawn from the magistrate's ruling in this case?

512.189 - 538.245 Craig McLachlan

And this is only a week or 10 days into the rehearsal period, which is at the end of 2013. You know, it speaks volumes when a director comes to coffee and lunch. with the leading man and his partner. And you get the sense that he's itching to talk to you about something. And eventually he opens up and says, look, I've put a call into London. I think I need to remove her from the company.

0

538.445 - 554.309 Craig McLachlan

She's rude. She has very set ideas of what she wants to do. She's not collaborative. And I think she's going to be a disruptive influence in the company. There were no ifs or buts this was going to happen. I said, no, she'll be okay. She'll settle down. I'll keep my eye on her. You know, give her a shot.

0

554.63 - 562.562 Craig McLachlan

The director listened to me and he went, okay, well, I'll get back on the blower to London and we'll see how things settle. But it was that close.

0

564.955 - 579.825 Vanessa Scammell

In an initial interview, this same cast member had also claimed that she had witnessed Craig McLachlan threatening an overseas creative team member. The following excerpt is being read by an actor.

0

580.835 - 595.51 Unknown

I got the job on Rocky and in the beginning we were sort of allies. But in rehearsal, you know, maybe in the second week, he threatened the musical director who'd been over from England. And I saw him explaining that to the director.

595.61 - 614.487 Unknown

So the three of us were in the kitchenette and he said, if he gives me another night or tries to tell me how to do this, I've told him he won't like the food in the Sydney hospital. You know from the beginning it was very clear that Craig was going to do what he wanted and everyone else was going to do what Craig wanted.

616.897 - 644.017 Vanessa Scammell

so was any of this true following these accusations both the uk stage director and uk music director responded saying nothing resembling this conversation or action ever occurred the music director spoke of the delightful relationship that craig and he had forged during the rehearsals that there was never any moment of conflict In fact, quite the opposite.

644.638 - 649.163 Vanessa Scammell

There simply was no threat and this interaction did not occur.

649.223 - 676.176 Craig McLachlan

Certainly not a good start when you've already got a troublemaker in rehearsals. She was off a lot of the time in 2014 on the tour due to back problems. I find that incredible that years later she actually blamed you for the back problems. How does that work? Just like a twisted Vegas magician. I was able to make all those girls hate each other without actually doing anything.

Comments

There are no comments yet.

Please log in to write the first comment.