- Critic slams Karl Stefanovic’s Paris Olympics coverage
- Lisa Wilkinson’s account ‘liked’ the tweet – and it didn’t go unnoticed
It’s been almost seven years since Lisa Wilkinson spectacularly quit the Today show amid a bitter pay equality dispute – and it seems she is still not convinced her former co-star Karl Stefanovic is worth his multi-million-dollar network deal.
The former magazine maven has been seemingly caught out ‘liking’ a post on X slamming her one-time breakfast show partner’s performance as Nine’s central host at the Paris Olympic Games.
‘Just painfully watching the Channel 9 Olympic coverage of the opening ceremony It is so bad!’ the contentious post read.
‘Arrogant, narrow minded, patronising and clown Karl Stefanovic making it all about himself.’
The apparent endorsement may well have gone unnoticed, given the platform no longer openly reveals which users ‘like’ posts to anyone other than the original author.
But Wilkinson’s seemingly surreptitious support didn’t stay quiet for long, with the critique’s creator – a Free Palestine-supporter who goes simply by the name of ‘Chris’ – boasting she had agreed with his unflattering appraisal of Stefanovic.
‘Karl thought he was clever by saying there are fewer Olympic athletes than neurosurgeons. Seems by quite a margin given there are 50,000 neurosurgeons in the world and 2,900 athletes. Weird comparison!’ he wrote, before punctuating the post with an emoji of a clown face to underscore his assessment of Stefanovic.
‘Lisa agrees and she would know,’ he added, along with an image proving her account had indeed endorsed his views.
Karl Stefanovic and Lisa Wilkinson co-starred on Nine’s Today for 10 years before she quit. And a thumbs up she issued on X has indicated what she really thinks of him
Wilkinson’s social media account has been caught ‘liking’ a post panning her former co-star
The post’s creator boasted that Wilkinson’s ‘like’ was the highlight of his day
Clearly chuffed, in a separate post, he went on to say: ‘Lisa Wilkinson liking this tweet about Karl Stefanovic has made my day!’
The posts quickly raised eyebrows among industry insiders, fueling a flurry of speculation about what could have sparked the social media dis.
However, it seems no one was more surprised than Wilkinson herself.
It is understood she was completely unware her account had ‘liked’ the post, and she ‘unliked’ it as soon as it was brought to her attention.
The Logie-winning star left Nine’s breakfast show and absconded to rival Ten and a gig co-hosting The Project in 2017 after 10 years with the Today show.
Her bitter break up with the network followed accusations she had only earned a fraction of her co-star’s pay.
It is not the first time the Today show’s stars – past and present – have been caught up in an embarrassing social media snafu involving unflattering comments about their colleagues.
Five years ago, in January 2019, Stefanovic also made headlines after his Instagram account ‘liked’ two comments on the Today show’s official Instagram page mocking its then-new lineup featuring Deborah Knight and Georgie Gardner.
One comment that his account ‘liked’ read: ‘Won’t be watching. Well, Miss Gardiner [sic] got her way. Pathetic, smile, agree and laugh. It’s all they do.’
A second comment his page ‘liked’ read: ‘Channel [Nine], the audience want answers.’
Stefanovic was quick to blame rogue hackers for his account’s activities back in 2019
The incident came after Stefanovic was briefly ‘rested’ from the program as Nine’s network executives tried to take Today in a new direction – only for him to be hastily recalled after the show suffered a disastrous ratings nosedive.
The television presenter was keen to distance himself from his account’s activities at time, posting a statement on Instagram that blamed the rogue ‘likes’ on a malicious social media hacker.
‘While I was out fishing my Instagram account has been hacked. I am investigating this with the authorities and will be back soon. Karlos,’ he wrote.
Karl StefanovicLisa Wilkinson
