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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Business
Amanda Meade Media correspondent

How Australian hero Karl Stefanovic took a sharp turn to the right – and fell from TV stardom

Karl Stefanovic smiles during a live broadcast of the Today show
Karl Stefanovic during a live broadcast of the Today show in 2025. On Friday, Nine announced he was leaving the media company ‘immediately’. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

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.

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