Karl Stefanovic has survived so many scandals he is untouchable

Karl Stefanovic is heavily embroiled in the Michael Clarke scandal, but there’s a reason he can just carry on.

OPINION

Today’s Karl Stefanovic has survived so many scandals, you’d be forgiven for thinking he has nine lives. I can’t think of a female equivalent that has been through as many media storms and managed to come out unscathed.

Stefanovic’s had a few crackers during his time in the public eye. From the silly to the scandalous, and yet he is still seen as a beloved larrikin – no matter what he has allegedly said in a Uber.

Most recently, Stefanovic found himself scandal adjacent. He was caught on camera watching his mate and famous cricketer Michael Clarke have a massive fight with his girlfriend and Stefanovic’s sister-in-law Jade Yarbrough in a public park. The story was initially published by The Daily Telegraph.

The stylist accused Clarke of cheating on her by sleeping with his ex-girlfriend, active wear designer Pip Edwards.

Famously, she slapped him and called him a “dog c*nt!”

Stefanovic mainly was a bystander in the video, and he didn’t bite back when Clarke yelled at him, “Karlos, I can tell you now, c**t, don’t you f***ing look away. She can, she can punch me, but you, you c**t …”

Watch the video of the incident here.

Obsessed with Michael Clarke still calling Karl Stefanovic "Karlos" even in the most trying of circumstances.

— Holly Hales (@hollyhales) January 19, 2023

I have no doubt Stefanovic will ride out this drama. I don’t think he has any concerns, either. Yesterday he was seen smirking when asked if he and Michael Clarke would participate in a celebrity boxing match.

Stefanovic’s no stranger to his personal antics eclipsing his career. In 2009, he went viral because he turned up to host Nine’s wholesome morning show Today, still drunk from The Logies that happened the night before.

He slurred, and joked his way through the show, looking like a crumpled mess. What might have been someone else’s career end just cemented Stefanovic’s status as a classic Aussie bloke.

Later Stefanovic said the incident didn’t harm his career at all, “I was worried about it initially, but I think it broke down a barrier for me. The public has been tremendously supportive — the only drama is that every time I go out now, everybody wants me to get drunk with them. For me to look back on it, it’s quite funny now.”

watching clips of when Karl Stefanovic was drunk on the today show after the logies! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

— Zoe (@zedee) May 17, 2012

This is a pretty accurate narrative for Stefanovic’s career. When you think he might lose it all, he comes out more beloved than ever.

Perhaps his biggest and longest latest scandal was his messy divorce with his ex-wife Cassandra Thorburn. They’d been married for two decades, and have three children, and Stefanovic spent every morning hosting Today and sharing anecdotes from his family life.

His whole public image was a family man that loved his wife and kids but had a wicked sense of humour.

In 2016, they announced they were separating, and within five months, Stefanovic was dating an ex-model/shoe designer Jasmine Yarbrough that was almost a decade younger than him. They’d get photographed at exclusive Sydney events or on billionaire James Packer’s yacht.

Karl and Cass were together for two decades. Source: Photographer Belinda Rolland.

Karl married Jasmine in 2018 in a lavish ceremony. Picture Instagram

It was like he took his family man image and put an axe to it. It also didn’t help that his ex-wife wasn’t going quietly. She famously told Women’s Day that Stefanovic was dead to her, “The children still have a father, but I don’t have a husband. He is dead to me, and no, we won’t ever be friends again.”

Stefanovic’s personal life had become bigger than his career, and just when things started to quieten down, his co-host of over a decade, Lisa Wilkinson, announced she was exiting the Today show and cited the primary reason being that was unable to get pay parity with Stefanovic.

Lisa famously left Nine and headed to rival network 10 Source: Photographer Nigel Hallett.

At the time Wilkinson didn’t throw Stefanovic under the bus, but her admission launched plenty of conversations. Should Stefanovic have campaigned harder for his co-host? Why was a man getting paid more than his equal female co-host? It wasn’t exactly a story that was going to endear him to the female audience that Nine’s Today famously attracts and famously ratings did drop in her absence.

Still, Stefanovic had built up plenty of goodwill over the years. He was funny and came across as easygoing, often referencing the people behind the scenes of the morning show when he was on-air.

You got the sense that he was the kind of guy people liked being around and there was no denying he made good television in a very distinct Australian way. He’d happily get riled up about politics, sports, and family issues, but his opinions were never so controversial that he’d lose his audience.

However, the drama peaked in 2018 when his brother, who also worked on Today Peter Stefanovic, was in an Uber with his wife Sylvia Jefferies, and they rang Stefanovic and put him on speaker and had a very candid chat, in which the brothers moaned about their highly-paid jobs and famous co-workers.

At the time Georgie Gardner had just started as Lisa Wilkinson’s replacement, and according to the Uber driver that sold his story, Stefanovic complained she was a “fence sitter.” He also was concerned she wouldn’t last on the show if she kept being so neutral.

Karl Stefanovic and Georgie Gardner during their brief stint as co-hosts. Source: Instagram

Karl is famously close with his brother Peter. Source: Instagram

Uber-Gate did seem to push Stefanovic’s career into a free fall. At the time ratings had dwindled on Today since Wilkinson’s departure, and Stefanovic had become a vast tabloid fixture, and often the stories weren’t flattering.

At the end of 2018, Nine announced Stefanovic wouldn’t be returning to his post at Today, but they’d still have a working relationship with him.

It really did feel like maybe it was the end of the Stefanovic reign, but after rejigging the show and trialling two female co-hosts, Georgie Gardner and Deborah Knight it wasn’t working without him.

Ultimately Stefanovic was welcomed back in 2020, his personal life had been pretty quiet since his departure and viewers had a long history of loving him. He has reigned supreme at Nine ever since.

Stefanovic has survived an ugly divorce, an equal pay scandal, turning up to his job drunk and is now wading through a video scandal. You have to give it to the man: nothing will kill his career.

I can’t help but wonder though would a woman get the same treatment? I doubt it.