Benjamin Cohen, the university student who was falsely identified by the Seven Network as the man behind the Bondi Junction stabbing attack, has settled his defamation case with the network out of court. Seven has apologised for the major fuck up, and Cohen has been awarded cash in compensation.
As Australia watched on in horror in the wake of the Bondi Junction Westfield stabbing attack, a series of broadcasts aired by the Seven Network between 6.05am and 6.15am on Sunrise, “40-year-old Benjamin Cohen” was incorrectly identified as the deceased attacker.
The problem was that Cohen, an innocent 20-year-old, was alive and well, and in no universe was responsible for the traumatic attack. That man was 40-year-old Queensland man Joel Cauchi.
Seven initially apologised for the false identification, but days later Cohen and his family lawyered up and threw a defamation lawsuit at the network, and declared their intentions to sue on April 17.
Now I’m no lawyer, but I reckon it would have been a pretty hard case for Seven to defend. Particularly when footage of the false identification can still be found online.
Teveeder transcript has five references from #7News to Benjamin Cohen being the #BondiJunction attacker.
— Mark (@mark_melbin) April 13, 2024
Video from #7news (below) names Benjamin Cohen at the 3min 45 sec mark.https://t.co/hNVeuQJPHo#Sunrise #Bondi #insiders #auspol https://t.co/ruU64qJa0z
Seven apologises to Benjamin Cohen
Which is why instead of taking the case to court, Seven and Cohen have reached a confidential settlement, with the network expressing it was “devastated” by the error in an apology to the 20-year-old.
“Seven accepts the identification was a grave mistake and that these assertions were entirely false and without basis,” read the apology, signed by Seven’s Managing Director Jeff Howard.
The apology also explained how the error came to occur, stating that a producer “mistakenly believed that information” that a “40-year-old named Benjamin Cohen” was confirmed as the attacker, which led to Cohen’s name being aired.
“The error quickly became apparent and no further broadcast of the name ‘Benjamin Cohen’ was made in Seven’s ongoing news coverage. Seven made attempts to find a contact number for you but did not have one until your mother rang the newsroom,” read the apology.
“Seven wishes to assure you that the error originated at the producer level and that Seven’s presenters were in no way involved in suggesting or scripting the words which were published.”
Sunrise presenter Matt Shirvington, reporter Lucy McLeod, and the staff involved in the broadcast also offered their personal apologies to Cohen and were “traumatised by the mistake,” according to the statement.
Cohen has been awarded a confidential sum of money from Seven, in compensation for its erroneous identification.
A media release from Cohen also called out “users who abuse a platform to target individuals or communities should be held accountable for the consequences of their actions, and platforms should be more accountable for the content they host”.
Benjamin Cohen and his team will be meeting with the Commissioner of Police to work on investigating where the false identifications originated online.
[Image: Facebook and Getty]
