Nine Entertainment is expected to sever ties with Karl Stefanovic, Channel Nine’s highest-paid presenter, after the Today show co-host interviewed and embraced UK far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
Executives held crisis meetings on Wednesday to consider the future of Stefanovic who has been a breakfast television star and face of the network for 20 years. There were fears the network’s advertisers would be targeted by online activists unhappy with Stefanovic’s roster of rightwing guests.
Late on Wednesday, the Sydney Morning Herald, which is part of the Nine stable, reported that Stefanovic would leave the company. Nine has declined to comment.
Stefanovic, who took two weeks leave from Today to record podcasts in the UK, filmed himself walking down a London street with his arm slung around Robinson, who has spearheaded recent nationalist demonstrations in the UK.
But by Wednesday morning, the Robinson interview had been removed from the YouTube channel, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. The promo had been wiped from Stefanovic’s Instagram account.
Nine has consistently said the Karl Stefanovic Show is an independent production and has declined to comment on its increasingly rightwing content. But on Wednesday, the network changed tack and distanced itself from the podcast, saying the company was “taking this matter seriously”.
“The Karl Stefanovic Show is a completely independent production,” a spokesperson said. “Nine has no involvement, including in the guest selection and other editorial processes. However, Nine is taking this matter seriously.”
Stefanovic was nominated on Monday for a Logie award for most popular news or public affairs presenter for his role on Today.
Guardian Australia understands shareholders have made their displeasure known to Australia’s biggest media company, where Stefanovic is paid $2.8m annually.
Many of Nine’s journalists are concerned about the reputation of the company’s mastheads, which include the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age, and there has been “widespread gnashing of teeth” over the friendly treatment of a figure like Robinson, sources not authorised to speak publicly said.
In the now-deleted Instagram clip, Stefanovic places his arm around Robinson and the caption says: “What happens when speaking your mind comes at a cost? Now live on the show, Tommy Robinson shares his story, chatting all about free speech, censorship, immigration and the direction he believes Britain should be heading in.”
“Can I ask you a question?” Robinson asks him. “Keir Starmer is a … ?”
“Wanker,” says Stefanovic, as the pair laugh loudly together.
The One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, who was the first guest on the podcast, jumped on the controversy, claiming in a social media post Nine was “trying to sack my good friend Karl Stefanovic for this video with Tommy Robinson”.
“Now with 6 months to go on his contract the weak management of Channel 9 want to sack Karl over this interview”, the post said. “Tommy Robinson has a lesson for Australians. If we don’t learn from the UK’s mistakes on immigration and radical Islam, we are going to face the same destruction. This is exactly what Karl was trying to bring to Australia’s attention.”
Hanson reposted the full video of the interview on her social media channels.
In the interview with Robinson, Stefanovic does not challenge his more contentious views and says: “I really do admire your tenacity and the courage that you’re showing in trying to stand up for what you believe is right.”
Independent MP Sophie Scamps posted on Instagram that even the Reform UK leader Nigel Farage had distanced himself from Robinson. “Nine needs to seriously consider its association with Stefanovic,” she said.
Stefanovic has not addressed why the Robinson interview was removed but announced via social media an upcoming interview with One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce, rightwing activist and former singer Holly Valance and Dr Aseem Malhorta, who claims “Shane Warne’s death was connected to the covid vaccine”.
Stefanovic’s podcast team was approached for comment.
