Hit TV mini-series House of Hancock will not be broadcast or streamed again after Channel 9 made a grovelling apology for its portrayal of mining magnate Gina Rinehart and her family.
Billionaire Mrs Rinehart sued Channel Nine and production company Cordell Jigsaw over the two-part series, broadcast in February 2015, for injurious falsehood and misleading and deceptive conduct.
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The now controversial 2015 mini-series will not be broadcast or streamed again after Channel Nine apologised for its portrayal of Gina Rinehart and her family. Vision: Nine network
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Trailer: The House of Hancock
The now controversial 2015 mini-series will not be broadcast or streamed again after Channel Nine apologised for its portrayal of Gina Rinehart and her family. Vision: Nine network
Mrs Rinehart was seeking damages and a permanent injunction to prevent the program and about four minutes of cuts from being broadcast again. She also wanted an injunction preventing the DVD copy of the program being advertised as a "true story".
During an earlier hearing the court heard Mrs Rinehart wanted to argue details such as her weight, whether her father Lang Hancock cheated at tennis and the colour of her mother Hope Hancock's hair.
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Last week NSW Supreme Court Justice Lucy McCallum dismissed the proceedings after the parties agreed to an out of court settlement. Each party will pay their own costs.
On Friday Channel 9 issued an "unreserved apology" to Mrs Rinehart "for any hurt or offence caused by the broadcast and its promotion."
"Nine and Cordell Jigsaw accept that Mrs Rinehart had a very loving and close relationship with her mother, father and [late] husband [Frank Rinehart], and has with [her daughters] Hope and Ginia," the statement by Nine Entertainment Co chief executive Hugh Marks said.
Mrs Rinehart welcomed the apology with an accompanying statement that said: "This case was not about money. It was about Mrs Rinehart standing up for her deeply loved family members to try to stop the further spreading of unfair and grossly disgraceful falsehoods about her family, especially when certain of her family members are no longer here able to defend themselves."
The programs, which attracted a national audience of two million viewers for each instalment, focused on the epic feud between the late Hancock (played by Sam Neill), his wife Rose (Peta Sergeant) and Mrs Rinehart (Mandy McElhinney) between 1980 and 2002.
A spokeswoman for Channel 9 confirmed the network had "no plans" to broadcast or stream the mini-series again.
In the statement, Channel 9 and Cordell Jigsaw said they "acknowledge the significant contribution that Mrs Rinehart has made to Australia through her years of hard work and dedication and by her investment in this country, to its industry, economy and to the employment of Australians and by her longstanding support of elite sport and numerous worthwhile charities."
Mrs Rinehart sought, and won the right to, an advance viewing of the final part of the program before it aired and a confidential settlement was negotiated that enabled the episode to air with a raft of scenes edited out. Further, a disclaimer stating the show was a "drama, not a documentary" and that Mrs Rinehart was not interviewed by the producers was shown at the beginning and end of the episode.
However, the settlement terms did not placate Mrs Rinehart who launched proceedings for injurious or malicious falsehood.
To be successful, she would have had to prove the alleged false statements were motivated by malice and intended to cause harm to her business. She also had to prove actual damage, such as loss of business, which is caused by the false statement.