- Critic slams Karl Stefanovic’s coverage of Paris Olympics
- Lisa Wilkinson’s account ‘liked’ the tweet – and it didn’t go unnoticed
It’s been nearly seven years since Lisa Wilkinson made a dramatic exit from the Today show amid a bitter equal pay dispute. And it seems she’s still not convinced her former co-star Karl Stefanovic is worth his multimillion-dollar contract with the network.
The former magazine guru was apparently caught ‘liking’ a post on X criticising her former breakfast show partner’s performance as Nine presenter during the Paris Olympics.
“I am watching the Channel 9 broadcast of the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony with a heavy heart. It is so bad!”, the controversial message reads.
‘The arrogant, narrow-minded, condescending and clownish Karl Stefanovic who makes it all about himself.’
The apparent endorsement likely went unnoticed, as the platform no longer openly discloses which users “like” posts by anyone other than the original author.
But Wilkinson’s seemingly covert support did not remain silent for long. The author of the critique, a Free Palestine advocate who goes by the name “Chris,” boasted that she agreed with his unflattering assessment of Stefanovic.
“Karl thought he was being clever by saying there are fewer Olympic athletes than neurosurgeons. That seems like a pretty big margin considering there are 50,000 neurosurgeons and 2,900 athletes in the world. Weird comparison!” he wrote, before ending the post with a clown face emoji to underline his assessment of Stefanovic.
“Lisa agrees and she will know it,” he added, along with an image proving that her story did indeed support his views.
Karl Stefanovic and Lisa Wilkinson starred together on Nine’s Today for 10 years before she quit. And a thumbs up she gave X has shown how much she really thinks of him
Wilkinson’s social media account was caught ‘liking’ a post slamming her former co-star
The creator of the post boasted that Wilkinson’s ‘like’ was the highlight of his day
Clearly delighted, he wrote in a separate message: ‘Lisa Wilkinson liking this tweet about Karl Stefanovic made my day!’
The reports quickly raised eyebrows among industry insiders and led to a flurry of speculation about the cause of the criticism on social media.
But it seems no one was more surprised than Wilkinson himself.
She apparently didn’t know her account had liked the post and immediately disliked the post when it was brought to her attention.
The Logie Award-winning star left Nine’s morning show for rival Ten to front The Project in 2017 after a 10-year stint on the Today show.
Her acrimonious split with the network followed allegations that she earned only a fraction of her co-star’s salary.
This isn’t the first time that Today Show stars — both past and present — have been caught up in an embarrassing social media gaffe, making 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, which ridiculed the show’s then-new line-up, featuring Deborah Knight and Georgie Gardner.
A comment that his account ‘liked’ read: ‘Won’t watch. Well Miss Gardiner [sic] got her way. Poor thing, smile, agree and laugh. That’s all they do.’
A second comment that liked his page read: ‘Channel [Nine]the public wants answers.’
Stefanovic was quick to blame malicious hackers for the activity on his account in 2019
The incident occurred after Stefanovic was briefly ‘retired’ from the show as Nine Today’s network executives sought to take it in a new direction. However, he was quickly recalled after the show’s ratings plummeted.
At the time, the TV presenter wanted to distance himself from the activities on his account and posted a statement on Instagram in which he blamed the fraudulent ‘likes’ on a malicious social media hacker.
“While I was fishing my Instagram account was hacked. I am investigating with the authorities and will be back soon. Karlos,” he wrote.