Presenter Karl Stefanovic has pulled out of his scheduled appearance on his new radio show with Eddie McGuire on Friday amid a furore over his sympathetic interview with UK right-wing extremist Tommy Robinson.
Stefanovic and McGuire were scheduled to host an episode of their show The Long Weekend, which was to stream on radio station Gold and Nineโs platforms.
Sources familiar with the matter said there were conversations between Stefanovic and ARN about his future with the radio network, which only settled its lawsuit with former host Kyle Sandilands this month.
McGuire will front the show tomorrow alone. Asked whether Stefanovic would be on the show, McGuire said he was โstill not sureโ but โprobably not at this stageโ.
โIโm trying to get to the bottom of things myself.โ
Another source confirmed Stefanovic would not be appearing. The Nine star is expected to depart his post hosting theย Todayย breakfast program after his interview with the far-right UK figure.
In the interview, Stefanovic praised Robinsonโs โtenacityโ and โcourageโ for โtrying to stand up for what you believe is rightโ.
Speaking at an event at Parliament House on Thursday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese weighed in on the matter.
โI donโt want to get into a debate about Nine at the moment but, you know, look at whatโs happened,โ he said.
โYou go down that road and you get further and further out on the edges of what is mainstream political debate in this country and โฆ I think that that can have, you know, an impact.โ
A spokeswoman for ARN reiterated the companyโs statement from Wednesday, emphasising that Stefanovic had a limited association with the company around the weekly show.
โHis external media activities, including his podcast, are undertaken in a personal capacity and are entirely separate from the network, which we have no control over,โ she said. โThey do not represent ARNโs views, editorial standards or programming.โ
More to come
Nick Bonyhady is the business editor of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. He is a former deputy federal editor, technology editor and industrial relations reporter.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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