TV star, podcaster under fire for Israel genocide post
Media personality and prominent Greens supporter Abbie Chatfield has been accused of unleashing abuse and hatred over a former close friend’s views on Israel’s war in Gaza.
Heath Kelley claims Chatfield was blacked out via an Instagram story posted to his 550,000 followers on May 7, days after the federal election.
It contained private messages between the couple after Mr Kelley sent her a video about then-green leader Adam Bandt, according to court documents released to AAP on Tuesday.
Mr Bandt lost Melbourne’s lower house seat in the Federal Election, with Chatfield highlighting some green events and advertising.
“I will sleep better at night knowing that Melbourne will feel safer with its Jewish population gone,” he wrote.
“As a supporter of gay and women’s rights, I am pro-Israel.”
In Chatfield’s posts, he denounced his former friend as a “right-wing troll” who supported Israel’s genocide and the “massacre of children” in Gaza within 10 years.
“Anyone from high school is watching this, just (sic) Heath Kelley supports genocide if you want to rethink your friendships,” he said.
These comments allegedly smeared Mr. Kelley, claiming that he supported the killing of children, gay men and women in Palestine.
Mr. Kelley, whose love Chatfield claimed at a double dance post in 2019, said the couple had been friends in Chatfield’s “closest friendship circle” from high school until at least 2021.
But the Instagram story triggered a legal concerns notice to the Bachelor Australia runner-up on May 20.
In it, his lawyer highlighted concerns from Melbourne’s Jewish population about Mr Bandt’s “politicisation of his community” and suggested that LGBTQI people and women had stronger protections in Israel than in occupied Palestine.
Mr. Kelley categorically denied the allegations in his May 7 Instagram story.
“Our client does not and has never supported genocide or the murder of children,” attorney Paul Svilans wrote.
“He finds the concepts disgusting.”
The allegedly defamatory statements were “serious in nature” and came from private messages shared in breach of trust, the lawsuit read in late September.
“The harm caused or is likely to be caused by the story is exacerbated by the fact that the current conflict in Gaza is a subject of intense political and social debate in Australia,” Svilans wrote.
After the story was published and Mr. Kelley was tagged, he was subjected to hatred, ridicule and contempt, the lawsuit said.
“You chose to publicly disparage our client in the most abusive and extreme way to your hundreds of thousands of followers,” Svilans wrote.
The lawsuit brands Mr. Kelley as a “troll” and says he can be relied upon to receive severe damages.
He engaged high-profile libel lawyer Sue Chrysanthou SC to represent him in court.
The lawsuit seeks damages and compensation, as well as court orders restraining the Podcaster from repeating the allegedly defamatory statements.
An offer in which Chatfield apologized to his former friend and paid him $95,000 was not received before the lawsuit was filed, according to court documents.
The lawsuit alleges that in response to the May 20 awareness of concerns, the TV star accused Mr. Kelley of “extortion” and tried to financially benefit from their former friendship.
Chatfield did not respond to a request for comment.
The 30-year-old rose to fame as a bachelor’s runner-up in 2019 before landing a notable position as a commentator, particularly on issues affecting young women.
She has hosted Love Island, been a panelist on The Masked Singer and hosts a radio show on the hit network.
An election commission investigation in April found him breaching anti-crime laws when interviewing Prime Minister Anthony Arnavenese and hosting a concert with Mr Bandt at a Melbourne nightclub.
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