Revealed: What Karl Stefanovic and younger brother Peter really said in the Uber
TENSIONS could be building between Karl Stefanovic and Georgie Gardner over his “b**chy” 45-minute Uber phone conversation after she called him “pathetic” on air this morning. FULL DETAILS HERE.
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TENSIONS could be building between Karl Stefanovic and Georgie Gardner over his “b**chy” 45-minute Uber phone conversation after she called him “pathetic” on air this morning.
In an unrelated discussion about sausage dogs today, Gardner took a lighthearted story about the pooch breed to name-call Karl.
The Today host pretended not to watch footage because he was apparently “savaged by a sausage dog as a child.”
Gardner snapped, “Well, that’s right. That’s coming up, don’t you worry about that,” after Channel 9 newsreader Deborah Knight suggested: “You’ve got to face your fears, Karl.”
“Well, it’s probably about now I should call you pathetic,” Gardner told Karl.
The Daily Telegraph overnight revealed details of the now infamous late-night conversation between Karl Stefanovic and his younger brother Peter, recorded by an Uber driver.
Yesterday the pair apologised for the conversation on the eve of New Idea’s full account in today’s magazine.
An insider said the older brother spoke about being fed up with Today co-host Georgie Gardner’s approach to the job.
“He (Karl) said she (Georgie) is wishy-washy, and doesn’t have a real opinion on anything,” the source revealed.
“He described her as a fence-sitter, that she needs to step up and she is playing it safe. Karl even goes on to say that he wants to talk to his bosses about the issue. He thinks that she needs to get serious or get out.”
The exchange unfolded as Peter Stefanovic and his wife, Today newsreader Sylvia Jeffreys were together.
“As far as the Uber driver’s account goes, Sylvia was present for the conversation but stayed quiet,” the source said.
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The boys also spoke about “friend” Richard Wilkins, the Today show’s entertainment reporter. “They say that Dickie is overly protective of his patch and his sources and will not share any of the entertainment interviews,” the insider said.
Peter also complained about his role at the network, suggesting he was above reporting three days a week. And the pair were critical of a senior news reporter, they described as cold and unhelpful.
In today’s issue of New Idea, the driver denied reports he had recorded the conversation, which is illegal in NSW, claiming that he remembered the details.
The magazine reported that Karl’s frustration wasn’t limited to his colleagues. Karl reportedly also went into great detail about what was wrong with well-known shows such as 60 Minutes — which he claimed was suffering dwindling ratings — before pointing out that Nine bosses “didn’t know anything and ... are out of touch.”
During the trip, Peter complained at length that he “hated his job” and would often express his frustrations to Jeffreys, claimed the driver.
The driver revealed Peter, who hosts Today Weekend and is a 60 Minutes reporter, was unhappy that his ideas were always rejected and that it was “sucking the life out of him”.
Karl reportedly responded that Peter needed to demand $60,000 from the network and “not to take no for an answer.”
Peter also slammed veteran Nine journalist Mark Burrows, who he said looked down on him.
It’s reported the driver was paid $50,000 for the story.
Karl returned to Today this morning with his brother Peter, who is reporting from the bushfires, for the first time since news of the recording broke.
On Sunday a Nine spokeswoman played it down.
“Clearly it was schoolboy behaviour between brothers, but that’s no excuse. We appreciate their genuine apologies,” she said.
— With staff writers
Originally published as Revealed: What Karl Stefanovic and younger brother Peter really said in the Uber
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