Abbie Chatfield has admitted to defaming her former ‘best male friend’ after accusing him of supporting genocide and child slaughter.
The influencer has agreed to pay law student and ex-Virgin Australia guest services officer Heath Kelley $79,000 in damages, following a Federal Court judgment she consented to, according to The Daily Mail.
Mr Kelley took legal action after his lawyers warned Chatfield her online comments about him were false and indefensible.
Chatfield didn’t contest the claim, with Justice Wendy Abraham making orders against her by consent on Thursday afternoon.
On top of that, the court ordered Chatfield to cover Mr Kelley’s legal costs — estimated at $30,000 — leaving her with a bill topping $100,000.
The 30-year-old, who boasts about 550,000 Instagram followers, published the defamatory remarks about Mr Kelley in her Stories at about 5.30pm on May 7.
Earlier that day, Chatfield had posted in support of Greens leader Adam Bandt, who lost his Melbourne seat to Labor’s Sarah Witty at the 2025 federal election.
Mr Kelley, who has known Chatfield since their school days in 2011, responded with a private message containing a video and comment about Mr Bandt.
Further private messages were exchanged between Chatfield and Mr Kelley, which she later shared with her Instagram followers.
In one exchange, Chatfield wrote: “Why are you sending me this..? Are you pro Israel? Gross.”
Mr Kelley replied: “Sending you this because it’s incredible news that he lost his seat. And I’m going to sleep better at night knowing the Jewish population of Melbourne will feel safer with him gone. And yes, as a supporter of gay and women’s rights, I am pro Israel, having been to the region twice.”
Chatfield responded: “Okay so you’ve lost the plot. By (sic) dude lmao.”
The former Bachelor star then posted parts of the conversation to her Stories, naming and tagging Mr Kelley.
In her Instagram Stories, Chatfield addressed Mr Kelley directly.
“And, yeah, so Heath Kelley… I mean I’m actually not shocked that you became a right-wing troll, because that’s all you were ever going to amount to,” she said.
“Anyway, Heath Kelley, Heath Kelley, Heath Kelley. Any of my friends from high school watching this, just so — Heath Kelley supports genocide if you want to reconsider your friendships.”
The Story remained live on her account until at least 1.15pm on May 8.
In his statement of claim, Mr Kelley said Chatfield’s comments were “likely to cause serious harm to Mr Kelley’s reputation” due to her large Instagram following.
The former friends shared between 130 and 150 mutual Instagram contacts, meaning the Story was likely seen by a significant portion of Mr Kelley’s social network.
Mr Kelley also alleged that Chatfield breached his confidence by publishing their private exchanges.
The pair previously made headlines in 2019 after a raunchy online video showed them dancing together, with Chatfield grinding against Mr Kelley and saying, “I love this song and I love this man.”
Fresh from her stint on The Bachelor, Chatfield was quick to deny any romantic link, describing Mr Kelley as “my best friend of ten years.”
PerthNow has contacted Abbie Chatfield for a comment.
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