Brittany Higgins’ husband David Sharaz has made a dramatic career change while living in the south of France, taking a job in advertising after an outspoken commentator told him to “get a job”.
Sky presenter Prue MacSween sparked a war of words last week after it was revealed that Sharaz and Higgins have to sell their $600,000 French home to pay off a libel action brought against them by Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds.
The couple bought the property last year after Ms Higgins received a $2.4 million Commonwealth award based on claims her political career was in ruins following her rape in Parliament in 2019.
Less than two years after the settlement, the couple finds themselves strapped for cash, expecting their first child and facing the prospect of having to pay around $1 million in legal fees.
Mrs MacSween mocked them in X, saying: ‘My God, Higgins has to sell his French chateau to pay his mounting legal bills. C’est la vie.’
Mr Sharaz criticised her, calling her “vile”, to which she responded by encouraging him to “use all his efforts to find a job instead of trolling”.
On Sunday, MacSween doubled down on his comments during a segment on Brisbane radio station 4BC, telling the former journalist to “get a job, mate, and be legit.”
David Sharaz, pictured with Brittany Higgins, worked quietly as a freelancer for an advertising firm in London.
Conservative commentator Prue MacSween (pictured) lashed out at Sharaz last week and again on Sunday.
However, sources close to Sharaz have confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that the former journalist was working as a freelancer for an advertising firm in London.
She worked on a Starbucks campaign that ran in the UK and the Middle East.
The source revealed that she plans to get a full-time job after a two-year hiatus, but has no desire to return to journalism.
Mr Sharaz worked for Sky News in Canberra until 2020, when he took on a brief role as senior media adviser for the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet in Parliament House, where he met Ms Higgins.
He moved to Southern Cross Austereo in Brisbane in March 2021 but resigned in February 2023, shortly after Reynolds took legal action against him, and has not been in regular employment since.
Speaking on Brisbane radio on Sunday, Ms MacSween said Australians were “fed up” with the situation.
He then accused Mr Sharaz and Ms Higgins of “orchestrating” the rape allegations to damage the Liberal Party and questioned the legitimacy of Ms Higgins’s allegations.
Ms MacSween said: “Generally speaking, if a person was raped or felt they had been raped, they would go to a hospital or the police.”
Brittany Higgins (right) and David Sharaz (left) were pictured leaving the WA Supreme Court in March after mediation with Linda Reynolds.
Pictured: Brittany Higgins and David Sharaz’s French home, which they now have to sell
‘I don’t think many of us think, “Oh, I’m going to go to the media first before I go to the police.”
I mean, why would you do that, unless you had some other kind of reasons? It’s just very curious.
In April, Federal Court Judge Michael Lee found on a balance of probability that Ms Higgins was raped by her former colleague Bruce Lehrmann after a night out in March 2019.
The court heard that Ms Higgins went to the police after her rape. She decided not to complain because she felt it would mean giving up her dream job as a Liberal Party staffer.
Two years later, she went to the media because she wanted to speak out against the treatment of women in Parliament.
Ms MacSween was then asked to respond to Sharaz, who called her “vile”.
“Well, man, I mean he would know what vile is, because the poor guy lives it every day, right?” he said.
‘I think the man should get a job and focus on that instead of worrying about what people say to him on Twitter.
Linda Reynolds is pictured with Brittany Higgins in Perth in 2019, when she was a young Liberal staffer.
“If you have a child on the way, you have a wife, you might be about to lose your home; get a coworker and legalize your life.”
Mr Sharaz is expected to return to Australia with Ms Higgins ahead of the defamation case, which begins in the Western Australian Supreme Court in Perth on Friday.
Ms Reynolds is suing the couple in separate cases over a series of social media posts in 2022 and 2023 that she says damaged her reputation.
The posts revolve around the couple’s allegations that the senator failed to support Higgins after she revealed that Lehrmann raped her in Reynolds’ office in March 2019.
Ms Higgins has repeatedly claimed that Ms Reynolds and her staff ostracised her in the wake of her assault and that she was ultimately forced to choose between her career and reporting her rape allegations to police.
Ms Reynolds has consistently denied failing to support Ms Higgins.
Earlier this year, Sharaz admitted defeat due to financial difficulties. His issue is likely to be resolved in August.
