AFL superstar Wayne Carey drops legal action against Crown Resorts over Perth white powder scandal

AFL superstar Wayne Carey has quietly dropped legal action against Crown Resorts over the white powder scandal that ended his lucrative media career. 

Carey was escorted out of the Perth casino after a bag of white powder fell out of his pocket while he was gambling there on September 1 last year.

On Wednesday, Carey's manager confirmed his client had withdrawn the services of Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, who he had commissioned to represent him in the aftermath of the incident. 

'Wayne is overseas at the moment, is enjoying being out of the media spotlight and wants to look forward not behind, so has decided not to pursue this matter further,' he said.  

Carey had engaged the legal powerhouse as he desperately tried to hang onto his high-paying media jobs. 

Lawyer Josh Bornstein told media at the time of taking on the case that Carey was incorrectly ejected 'under the assumption that the bag contained an illegal drug'. 

Carey (pictured) at Crown on the the night of the drama when he was kicked out of the casino

Moving on from the scandal: Wayne Carey reportedly has a new girlfriend TikTok star Catie O'Neill (pictured) 

'Mr Carey is prescribed anti-inflammatories and pain killing medicine to help manage the significant pain caused by debilitating football injuries – including a shoulder that needs replacing and a neck injury that requires three discs to be replaced,' he said. 

'We are considering whether Crown Casino unlawfully discriminated against Mr Carey by excluding him from its premises as a result of a pre-existing disability.'

A spokesman for Maurice Blackburn Lawyers refused to comment when questioned by Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday. 

'You should address your questions to Mr Carey,' the spokesman said. 

Crown Resorts also failed to respond to questions.  

Legal experts told Daily Mail Australia that Carey had faced a tough challenge proving Crown had discriminated against him. 

'If he wants to claim disability he needs to prove he has the disability, that he's prescribed that medication for that and that it has to be taken in powdered form and then he would need a signed affidavit from a doctor stating all of that,' an expert said at the time. 

An image obtained by Daily Mail Australia showed Carey sitting with three men at the Lobby Lounge outside Crown Perth's Metropol Hotel where he was supposed to be staying that night. 

The scandal resulted in Carey quickly vanishing from Melbourne airwaves and from his highly lucrative gig with Channel 7. 

Carey's contract at Channel 7 expired at the end of last season, with industry site TV Blackbox reporting it would not be renewed this year.

Channel 7 had already dropped him from the main Friday broadcast in favour of AFLW star Daisy Pearce.

Wayne Carey has parted ways with former partner Jessica Paulke, who is the mother to one of his children

Catie O'Neill (pictured) is the director co-founder of skincare brands My Glow 2 and Huxden alongside Olivia Burrows. She was recently seen on the arm of Wayne Carey 

With the AFL season set to begin on March 16, Carey is not expected to play a media role this season.

While Carey's media career has hit the skids, his prowess with the ladies off field continues to make headlines. 

Just weeks ago the 51-year-old was reported to be 'quietly seeing' glamorous Melbourne businesswoman and TikTok star Catie O'Neill, 28.

The pair spent a romantic weekend together in Bundalong in January when she accompanied him on a business trip.

Carey appeared at a local tavern for his event, Evening with Wayne Carey, on January 25. 

The scheduled appearance was a meet and greet where the footy legend chatted to fans and opened up about his life.

It also raised funds for Outside the Locker Room and Good Bloke Society.

Attendees said the newly minted couple looked 'happy and smitten' at the event.

Ms O'Neill is the director co-founder of skincare brands My Glow 2 and Huxden alongside Olivia Burrows.

She has also cultivated quite the social media following, boasting more than 115,900 TikTok followers and 10,600 on Instagram.

Carey is pictured before speaking on the white powder incident for the first time on Thursday, September 8

Speaking just days after the white powder scandal broke, Carey addressed reporters before a dinner at the RSL club in his hometown of Wagga Wagga, saying if casino staff had suspected the material in the bag was an illicit drug, they should have and would have called police.

Instead, he said police were never contacted, which indicated staff came to realise the content of the bag was legal.

'On two occasions they had an opportunity to call police. If what was alleged had happened then police should have been called straight away,' he said. 

'They had another opportunity when I went up to my room to call police and they never called the police.

Wayne's Carey's mugshot after the star faced a Miami court charged with battery of a police officer when he was accused of assaulting his girlfriend in 2007

'I want to know why, because if they had called the police I wouldn't be standing here talking to you about this.' 

Carey also claimed he offered to give the bag of powder to security.

The claims were dismissed by Crown boss Ciaran Carruthers, who said Carey promptly returned the bag of powder to his pocket.

'When the packet fell to the table, the gaming staff noticed it straight away. Mr Carey regained it, placed it back in his pocket and left the table,' he told Perth radio host Liam Bartlett at the time. 

'He kept it and beyond that I have no idea what's happened to it. He removed it from the table, placed it back on his person and then moved on.' 

The casino chief further claimed Carey was not honest about where he was staying that night, and later attempted to sneak back into his room.

The casino is believed to have handed over its CCTV footage of the incident to police.

Mr Carruthers told Perth radio 6PR highly trained staff were keeping tabs on Carey leading up to the incident.

He said his staff had no authority to remove the bag of powder, which Carey promptly returned to his pocket.

In Carey's 2009 autobiography, The Truth Hurts, the man dubbed 'King' during his extraordinary playing career provided insight into his handling of scandals.

'I'd always been told and taught to deny, deny, deny, unless you have been caught red-handed,' he wrote.

'And even if you have been caught red-handed you still deny, deny, deny.'

1996: Carey admits to indecent assault after grabbing a woman's breast outside a King Street nightclub 

2002: Caught having an affair with the wife of teammate and leaves North Melbourne in disgrace

2003: Adelaide woman claims she used a camera to take a photo of a naked and married Carey with another woman

2006: Carey splits with wife Sally less than two months after the birth of their first child

Allegedly broke a bottle of champagne over his own head during argument with new lover Kate Neilson 

2007: Carey attacks Neilson while on holiday in the US and assaults police 

2008: Carey arrested for assaulting police during a domestic dispute with Neilson 

Television and radio dump him from the airwaves

2014: All is forgiven in footy mad Melbourne and Carey is back on television calling footy