FREEDOM! Karl Stefanovic is finally free from his $2.8 million yearly salary
BY: Kartya Vucetic
It’s official, Karl Stefanovic has been freed from the shackles and chains of his reported $2.8 million a year contract with Channel 9.
This morning, Sarah Abo confirmed that Stefanovic would not return to The Today Show or Channel Nine, ending his 21-year run with the network. Shortly afterwards, Stefanovic posted a barefoot two-minute video declaring: “So I’m free. Truly independent.”
Karl is finally free from that pesky $2.8 million contract!
The sudden booting comes after quite the week for Stefanovic, who faced significant backlash for his podcast which guest featured far-right UK activist Tommy Robinson. During the interview, Stefanovic praised Robinson’s “courage” and “tenacity”, and at one point appeared to tell him, “I love you.”
The episode, which has since been deleted, was then reposted by none other than old mate Pauline Hanson.
“I know they’ll miss me desperately,” Stefanovic says of his former Today colleagues, before ending the video with a well-practised bell-kick.
Karl’s been working on his bell-kick
It’s admittedly a bizarre two-minute watch. Stefanovic looks relieved, but freedom from Nine also means freedom from one of Australian television’s largest reported salaries.
What happens next with the podcast remains an open question. For Stefanovic, this may be either an overdue liberation or the beginning of a considerably harder experiment. Most likely, it is a little of both.
