Bauer’s Woman’s Day has refuted claims it fabricated a story about Karl Stefanovic and his fiancée Jasmine Yarbrough in its current issue.
On Tuesday, Stefanovic labelled the magazine’s claims that Nine bosses had deliberately separated him and Yarbrough at the recent Logie Awards as “bullshit”, “hurtful” and “wrong”.
According to the Woman’s Day article, Nine’s management insisted that Stefanovic walk the Logies red carpet – broadcast on Nine – with Today co-host Georgie Gardner amid fears Yarbrough’s appearance would be a turn-off for viewers amid Stefanovic’s current divorce dramas.
However, in a podcast released yesterday, Woman’s Day’s editor-at-large Phil Koch said: “We have really good sources at Channel Nine. We were told there were very tense negotiations going on [between Stefanovic and Nine chiefs] in the weeks leading up to the Logies.
“Jasmine wasn’t seen on the red carpet. Channel Nine also didn’t show any vision of her on TV that night, even though Karl is one of their biggest stars,” Koch said.
Adding to the mischief, Woman’s Day reporter Lucy Manly, who was reporting from the Logies, claimed the tension between Stefanovic and Gardner was palpable.
“You could cut the tension with a knife,” Manly said. “I don’t think he wanted to be there. He wanted Jasmine on his arm, and he just didn’t look like a happy camper.”
Stefanovic hasn’t, as yet, responded to the claims.
