Details of Stefanovic brothers’ Uber audio revealed
CHANNEL Nine siblings Karl and Peter Stefanovic won’t be made to apologise to bruised Today show anchor Georgie Gardner, a Nine spokeswoman said today.
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CHANNEL Nine siblings Karl Stefanovic and his baby brother Peter won’t be made to offer a “sincere formal” apology to bruised Today show anchor Georgie Gardner, a Nine spokeswoman said today.
Television bosses have battened down to manage the latest PR crisis to threaten the embattled Today show following the discovery of an illegally-obtained audio recording of the celebrity talking about Gardner and other Nine executives.
Inside sources claim Nine’s senior management held extraordinary talks with executives on Monday in an attempt to manage the mounting crisis.
Nine News and Current Affairs boss Darren Wick, the executive producer of Today Mark Calvert and executive producer of 60 Minutes Kirsty Thomson are said to have been notified by executives to prepare themselves as they allegedly have also been named by the Stefanovic siblings in a conversation recorded by a Sydney Uber driver who has been shopping the recording to Sydney media.
Nine this morning has denied paying to take the recording off the market and shut the crisis down. “We have not bought it,” Nine publicity boss Victoria Buchan said.
Frances Sheen, acting editor of New Idea, could not be reached to confirm industry talk claiming the magazine had been contacted to buy the audio.
In the recording, Stefanovic, the highest paid personality on Australian television thanks to a $3 million annual contract, reportedly discusses ongoing grievances about working with his new co-anchor Gardner.
The conversation was recorded without the brothers’ knowledge while Peter Stefanovic had his older brother on speakerphone in the back of the rental vehicle.
Gardner wasn’t the only Nine employee singled out for mention in the free-ranging conversation.
Nine’s news boss Darren Wick, the brothers’ Today show boss Mark Calvert and Kirsty Thomson, Karl’s part-time 60 Minutes boss, also are said to come in for attention.
Nine’s spokeswoman denied the three executives had been consulted about being named in the recording.
She further denied whispers Wick and Calvert were — earlier this week — seen exchanging heated words in Calvert’s office.
Close sources say at least one of the brothers was questioned by his bosses over the matter, admitting he was unable to recall anything said during the after hours conversation.
Recording someone without their knowledge or permission is illegal in NSW.
An Uber spokesperson said that Peter Stefanovic has filed a complaint against the driver in question.
“Following receipt of the report, we immediately removed the driver’s access to the app so that we can properly investigate the complaint,” she said.
“The nature of this complaint is unacceptable to Uber and, if valid, would be a clear violation of our Community Guidelines.”
The crisis has not helped the already icy mood on the set of Today where the program’s two anchors, Karl Stefanovic and longtime former newsreader Georgie Gardner — who has been in the chair just two months having replaced outgoing host Lisa Wilkinson in January — famously don’t like one another.
The latest drama is said to have left Gardner feeling increasingly isolated — not least of all because the breakfast program’s newsreader Sylvia Jeffreys is married to Peter Stefanovic.
Fortunately for big brother Karl, a man with nine television lives it seems, he has avoided the deteriorating onset mood because he’s away this week.
Officially he is said to be off recording an interview for 60 Minutes — Nine’s spokeswoman would not say what.
Unofficially insiders say he is taking a “love” break with his fiancee Jasmine Yarbrough who the 44-year-old promised himself to in a commitment ceremony at the weekend.