On Thursday, October 24, 2026, former Australian SAS soldier Ben Roberts-Smith broke traditional legal protocol by speaking extensively in a two-and-a-half-hour interview with 2GB radio host Ben Fordham, just as he awaits a criminal trial on five counts of the war crime of murder.
Roberts-Smith Denies Allegations in Wide-Reaching Radio Broadcast
The wide-ranging conversation aired by 2GB, owned by Tapt Media, reached roughly 250,000 viewers and listeners by Friday morning, as The Guardian reported. During the broadcast, Roberts-Smith emphatically denied all allegations related to his deployments in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012, asserting that he always adhered to the rules of engagement and stating he does not regret “a single thing” in his military career, as ABC News detailed.
Yet, legal experts warn that this public media blitz introduces substantial legal exposure. Greg Barns, SC, a criminal lawyer and spokesman for the Australian Lawyers Alliance, observed in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age that any statements an accused person makes to the media can be utilized by the prosecution. If deemed admissible and relevant, these public remarks can be deployed to cross-examine the accused and undermine their credibility if they choose to give evidence at trial.
Weighing the Defamation Legacy Against the Jury Pool
The interview also traversed Roberts-Smith’s unsuccessful 2023 civil defamation proceedings against the then-Fairfax and now-Nine newspapers. In that judgment, Justice Anthony Besanko concluded on the balance of probabilities that Roberts-Smith had committed or was complicit in the murder of four Afghan men under Australian control. Subsequent appeals to the Full Court of the Federal Court and an application for leave to appeal to the High Court in 2025 were both unsuccessful.
As Hugh Riminton argued in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, the target of this public relations effort may not be the Crown, but rather the 12 as-yet unselected members of the jury. Roberts-Smith himself questioned the viability of finding impartial jurors given the saturated media coverage, telling Fordham, “How do you find people that don’t already have a position? Just in that sense alone, can there be a fair trial?”
Financial Backing and the Road to December
The broadcast also shed light on the financial backing behind Roberts-Smith’s protracted legal battles. He acknowledged that billionaire media mogul Kerry Stokes supported him from “day one” by covering legal bills, estimating the total cost to be “upwards of 30 million,” according to ABC News reporting.
With his criminal trial scheduled to return to court in December, legal observers argue that it remains in the interests of justice for both his advocates and critics to exercise restraint. As the legal proceedings approach, the core question is whether an accused person can effectively manage a high-profile criminal prosecution while actively shaping the public narrative outside the courtroom.
