In 25 years as the face of Channel Nine, Karl Stefanovic made international news twice. Once when he was crowned “hero of 2014” for wearing the same suit for a year to highlight sexism, and this week when he was dumped from his $2.8m contract for embracing far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
The journey between the two extremes is what the Australian television industry is grappling with as the jovial, popular host of the middle-of-the-road breakfast show took a sharp turn to the right and blew up his $2.8m network television career.