Today show viewers turned off by Karl Stefanovic’s ‘hipster hat’

Television insiders have revealed it wasn’t Karl Stefanovic’s over-the-top Mexican wedding, the oh-so-indiscrete Ubergate affair or the somewhat sickly “get-a-room” public displays of affection with new bride Jasmine Yarbrough. What really annoyed viewers was what was on top of his head.

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It’s the modified motto that may have cost morning television host Karl Stefanovic his multimillion-dollar job: If you want to get ahead, ditch the hat.

Television insiders have revealed it wasn’t the over-the-top Mexican wedding, the oh-so-indiscrete Ubergate affair or the somewhat sickly “get-a-room” public displays of affection with new bride Jasmine Yarbrough.

What really irked Today show viewers about Stefanovic was the brown, felt head gear that kept turning up atop TV’s most famous noggin.

Karl Stefanovic wearing “the hat” that annoyed Today show viewers. Picture: DIIMEX

The $500 hat has been spotted on social media and in papped photos. Picture: Instagram/@peter_stefanovic

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Not quite fedora, not quite Akubra, it has become instantly identifiable in TV circles as simply “The hat” and retails for as much as $500 in the kind of stores frequented by 20-something hipsters who attend music festivals and Newtown kale-juice bars.

When worn by Stefanovic, however, it apparently polarised viewers in market research sessions at Channel 9 to the point that it spelled the end of his 10-year tenure on the show.

It’s understood viewers complained that the wide-brimmed hat — which debuted in the now-infamous yacht photos back in February, 2017 — made the once-approachable star look “arrogant”, “foolish” and “like a try-hard”.

The hat first appeared in February 2017, when he was first spotted with Jasmine Yarbrough on a yacht.

Viewers of the show thought it made the TV star “arrogant”, “foolish” and “like a try-hard”.

He was later snapped wearing the same hat or a similar variation on several other occasions, including aboard a yacht on Sydney Harbour with his brother Peter and at Sydney airport.

According to Nine sources, feedback from focus group sessions mentioned “the hat” so often that Nine executives, led by network news and current affairs chief Darren Wick, had no choice but to act.

“Feedback kept coming back to this hat,” said a Nine insider.

“Session after session you would hear the complaints about Karl and this hat, and for some reason it just turned viewers off.

“They thought he was this normal, down-to-earth guy and then they see this hat and they’re like: ‘Wait, he’s not like me at all.’

“They said he was trying to look younger than he was, that he appeared arrogant. And they couldn’t get past it.”

Insiders claim it wasn’t the over-the-top Mexico wedding that cost him his job.

The source called “The Hat” the straw that ultimately saw Nine bosses cave in to pressure to ditch the once-mighty star.

He now faces the possibility of losing the $6 million which accompanies the final two years of his contract.

However, Nine’s potential loss could be another network’s gain, with at least one rival keeping a keen eye on events.

Although still very wary of his personal problems, they believe if Stefanovic can return his “old newsman” ways, he still has value.

It is understood Nine bosses are investigating whether Stefanovic breached his contract with Nine by doing a deal with the Channel 7-owned Pacific Magazines for his wedding photos.

If they succeed, Stefanovic could be axed from the network entirely in coming weeks.

Nine news boss Darren Wick declined to comment on Saturday.

Originally published as Today show viewers turned off by Karl Stefanovic’s ‘hipster hat’