60 Minutes S2023E12 - Under the Influence, Who's Hugh?

Under the Influence

This weekend Victoria Police is marking its saddest anniversary. It's three years since a drugged truck driver ran down and killed four officers on Melbourne's Eastern Freeway. It was the deadliest day in the history of the force, made even more horrific by a callous Porsche driver who taunted and filmed the dying police and then shared the vision with his friends. Now, in a joint investigation with The Age, 60 MINUTES can reveal a bizarre and worrying twist in the story. As Amelia Adams reports, the semi-trailer driver, who has been convicted and jailed for his actions, might not have been behind the wheel that terrible day but for his boss's devotion to a little-known, hardline religious sect called The Potter's House.

Who's Hugh?

There's no dispute, Hugh Sheridan is one of the nicest people anyone could ever hope to meet. On screen and in the theatre, he's also one of Australia's finest, and most loved, actors. But in 2020, Hugh became the target of a hate campaign that was so vile it almost broke him. The reason he was viciously attacked defies belief. He dared to do what actors are paid to do: act. As Tara Brown reports, the controversy arose after he was offered the leading part in the musical stage production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Hugh considered it the role of a lifetime, but by accepting the part he offended a very angry minority group who made it their mission to brutally cancel him.