Source : THE AGE NEWS
Today host Karl Stefanovic’s future with Nine is under a cloud after online activists vowed to target him over his sympathetic interview with British far-right anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson on a now-deleted episode of his podcast.
The episode, which was removed from sites including YouTube and Spotify less than 12 hours after it debuted, drew an angry backlash from the activist group Mad F—ing Witches, who vowed to target Stefanovic and Nine in the same way it did advertisers on shock jock Kyle Sandilands’ former show.
Sources familiar with the matter, who were not authorised to speak publicly, said that Nine executives had held lengthy discussions about the podcast in the day since it aired, but had not reached a decision.
In a statement, a spokesman for Nine, which owns this masthead, emphasised that Stefanovic’s online show was produced independently of the network.
“Nine has no involvement, including in the guest selection and other editorial processes,” the spokesman said, but he added: “However, Nine is taking this matter seriously.”
Stefanovic received a one-year extension to his Nine contract, which has reportedly been worth up to $3 million a year, when it was last up for renewal. It expires at the end of 2026.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson backed Stefanovic and posted the entire deleted podcast on her YouTube channel while accusing Nine of trying to sack the presenter over the interview.
“It looks like they’re trying to sack my good friend Karl Stefanovic for this video with Tommy Robinson!” she wrote on Instagram.
Stefanovic, co-host of Nine’s Today show, has increasingly cast himself as a culture warrior. He told Robinson he admired his “tenacity” and “courage” in “trying to stand up for what you believe is right”, in an interview lasting almost an hour on Stefanovic’s self-titled YouTube program. The pair discussed immigration, Islam and Australian politics.
Sources familiar with the matter said the podcast episode was not removed by the tech platforms from which it disappeared, including YouTube and Apple Podcasts. Posts with short clips of the Robinson interview remain on Stefanovic’s X account.
Stefanovic, who is in on leave from Today in the United Kingdom, was contacted for comment. Keshnee Kemp, who describes herself as a founding partner of the podcast and serves as its producer, was also contacted for comment.
Presenter Tom Steinfort is filling in for Stefanovic while he is overseas.
Meanwhile, media company ARN, which has contracted Stefanovic for a weekly show on its Gold radio network with Eddie McGuire, distanced itself from the podcast.
“Karl’s association with ARN is limited to specific radio engagements. His external media activities, including his podcast, are undertaken in a personal capacity and are entirely separate from the network, which we have no control over,” a company spokesperson said.
“They do not represent ARN’s views, editorial standards or programming.”
The activist group Mad F—ing Witches, which ran a pressure campaign against ARN by complaining to advertisers on Kyle Sandilands’ radio show about his sexualised remarks, announced on Wednesday that it would run a similar campaign against Nine, despite the removal of Stefanovic’s Robinson episode.
“In fact, it makes us even angrier they seem to think we’re so easily fooled and silenced,” the group posted.
“The truth is we’re now even MORE determined to run such a campaign on Stefanovic (tentatively titled #KancelKarl), and we badly need your help if you want us to do so.”
This masthead contacted or attempted to contact several advertisers that have featured on Stefanovic’s podcast, including two supplements companies, an outdoor advertising firm and a workplace software maker.
Robinson is a former member of the fascist British National Party and co-founded the English Defence League, an anti-Islam movement that organised street demonstrations around Britain.
The agitator has twice been forced to cancel speaking tours of Australia after being denied a visa. In 2019, supporters had paid up to $995 to see him alongside Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes and Milo Yiannopoulos – a former editor of Breitbart News – in five cities.
Robinson has convictions for assault, mortgage fraud, using a false passport and contempt of court. He was jailed in October 2024 after he ignored a court order not to repeat lies about a Syrian refugee who had successfully sued him for libel.
He has been condemned by several UK prime ministers, including Conservative Boris Johnson, who labelled him a “far-right thug” who did “not represent the values of this country”.
In Australia’s fringe online political world, reactions to Stefanovic’s podcast deletion were mixed. Rukshan Fernando, a self-styled political commentator with the far-right site Rebel News, said on X that Stefanovic had “cancelled himself” by deleting the Robinson episode. Drew Pavlou, another prolific social media user and “patriot”, declared that he stood with Stefanovic.
On Wednesday afternoon, AEST, Stefanovic released the next episode of his podcast. It features One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce, who is also in London despite parliament sitting this week in Canberra.
The podcast will also include Holly Valance, the former Neighbours star who has become a conservative influencer in the UK. Valance recently appeared at one of Robinson’s rallies and voiced her support for Hanson.
Stefanovic did not mention the removal of the Robinson episode on the podcast.
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Kishor Napier-Raman is a senior business writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Previously he worked as a CBD columnist and reporter in the federal parliamentary press gallery.Connect via X or email.
Rob Harris is the national correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age based in Canberra. He is a former Europe correspondent.Connect via email.
