The fallout from the Stefanovic brothers’ now infamous Uber ride continues, with more incendiary revelations surfacing.
Yesterday, (the Channel Seven-owned) New Idea – who paid an Uber driver $50,000 to share an intimate conversation between Nine’s Karl and Peter Stefanovic – published part two of its explosive exposé.
In the article, Karl was said to view himself as “untouchable” at Channel Nine, with brother Peter allegedly declaring, “You are the Today Show”.
In its initial article, New Idea claimed Karl had called Today co-host Georgie Gardner “wishy-washy’’ and a “fence sitter” and had moaned that she was void of any strong opinions.
Peter, who hosts Weekend Today, also complained about being ignored by Nine management and, again, complained that none of the ideas he put forward for stories ever got off the ground.
“I hate working news, I’m dying on the inside and it makes me feel horrible,” the younger Stefanovic is reported to have said. “The life is draining out of me. I’m so much better than this and can do so much more, it’s the worst four days each week and I should be doing more.”
Not wanting to miss out on any of the salacious action, Woman’s Day yesterday reported that Karl would be phased out of his Today hosting role by Nine bosses and replaced by fill-in host Ben Fordham in 2019. According to an “insider”, Karl will be given more reporting work on 60 Minutes as a smokescreen to his decreasing appearances on Today.
The bothers have both admitted and apologised for the Uber conversation in which they attacked their Nine colleagues and lambasted senior management.
Apparently, the conversation took place – via speakerphone – when the two had been returning from drinking at a barbecue. Karl has reportedly threatened to sue Uber over the incident.
Initially, the driver claimed he’d taped the conversation between the two and then pitched the recording to media agencies. He later denied the existence of any recording as it would have been illegal. The driver later signed a statutory declaration with New Idea that said there was no recording and the articles were written solely on his recollection of events in the car from a fortnight ago.
Nine has not commented on the latest revelations but had previously chastised the brothers’ action as a “schoolboy rant”.
