Leftist activists push Channel 9 into sacking Karl Stefanovich because he interviewed Pauline Hanson and Tommy Robinson

Leftist activists push Channel 9 into sacking Karl Stefanovich because he interviewed Pauline Hanson and Tommy Robinson. By Savanna Young in The Daily Mail.

Karl Stefanovic is reportedly set to resign from Nine following late-night talks amid the fallout from his controversial interview with Tommy Robinson.

The Today show star uploaded a controversial chat with the British far-right activist to his YouTube channel podcast, The Karl Stefanovic Show, on Tuesday, only to delete it hours later after facing widespread backlash [from his political opponents].

On Wednesday evening, The Sydney Morning Herald confirmed Stefanovic’s departure from Nine, indicating the decision was made in part to ‘defuse a major advertiser boycott.’ …

Meanwhile, activist group Mad F**king Witches (MFW) announced that it had launched a campaign against Stefanovic over the podcast with Robinson.

The grassroots organisation is known for launching advertising boycotts against media figures, having previously targeted Kyle Sandilands [who has just come out as a One Nation supporter]. …

The left don’t want us talking about certain topics:

Stefanovic — who has been branded ‘Joe Bogan’ thanks to his attempt at replicating the success of Joe Rogan’s podcast – sparked controversy when he published the interview with Robinson which discussed Islam, immigration and Australian politics.

By Wednesday morning, the interview had vanished from Spotify, Apple Podcasts and The Karl Stefanovic Show YouTube channel.

Marta Jay at The Daily Mail:

Pauline Hanson has assured Karl Stefanovic that he has a job with One Nation should he want it, after the Today host was dropped by Channel Nine on Wednesday. …

Hanson slammed Nine, saying the network would be ‘bloody stupid’ to sack Stefanovic.

‘They’ve gone so far to the left, Channel Nine, they’re making a big mistake,’ the senator said. …

Hanson had earlier backed her ‘good friend’ Karl by uploading his pulled interview with Robinson to her own YouTube channel.

Pauline Hanson put up one minute from the Tommy Robinson interview on her X account:

And put the full interview on her YouTube channel:

Karl has been cancelled by Australia’s ruling class. Welcome to the outsiders, Karl.

UPDATE: The Confidential Daily:

Karl Stefanovic interviewed the wrong bloke, on the wrong subjects, in the wrong tone, and Nine decided he had crossed the line.

Not a legal line. Not even a journalistic line, really. A cultural one.

Karl Stefanovic committed wrongthink.

Stefanovic’s great sin was not simply interviewing Tommy Robinson. Journalists have interviewed all sorts of people over the years. Dictators, terrorists, murderers, fraudsters, extremists, fanatics and every variety of political nutter have been given airtime when it suited a newsroom’s purpose.

No, Karl did something much worse. He treated Robinson like a guest. …

The interview covered immigration, Islam, multiculturalism, free speech and the media. In other words, the list of topics ordinary Australians are allowed to talk about at the kitchen table, in the ute, at work, or over a beer, but only in the correct way in public.

The approved script (as if you didn’t know): …

Mass immigration must always be a blessing. Multiculturalism must always be a triumph. Free speech must always be defended in theory and restricted in practice. Islam can be discussed only with trembling caution. And the media, naturally, must never be accused of being part of the problem.

Karl didn’t follow the approved script:

He didn’t scowl on cue. He didn’t perform the required denunciation before allowing his guest to speak. He didn’t treat Robinson like a radioactive parcel left on the studio floor.

Worse still, he apparently praised his “tenacity” and “courage”. Promotional footage showed the two men looking friendly in London.

That was the real outrage.

Not that the interview existed. Not really. The outrage was the tone. Karl was supposed to cross-examine, condemn, interrupt and posture. Instead, from what we’re told, he had a conversation. …

Cancelled, a high flier’s career up in smoke, and let that be a lesson to everyone else in the Australian media:

Nine did not have to endorse Robinson. Karl did not ask Nine to endorse Robinson. By Nine’s own account, this was an independent podcast. Yet once the right people were offended, independence suddenly counted for nothing.

This is how cancellation works now. It rarely comes with an official stamp. Nobody walks in wearing a black hood. There’s no formal announcement saying, “This man has been punished for unacceptable views.” …

Only Pauline Hanson called then out (showed leadership):

Pauline Hanson said plainly what plenty of others would only mutter once the door was shut. She accused Nine of trying to sack Stefanovic, called its management weak, and reposted the deleted interview herself.

That, naturally, annoyed the media class even more. The deleted thing was not supposed to reappear. The whole point of pulling it down was to make it disappear into the digital memory hole, where awkward material goes when powerful people decide the public cannot be trusted to watch and make up its own mind.

That is the trick now. They don’t ban interviews. They just pressure people until interviews vanish.

They don’t censor conversations. They just make sure anyone who has the wrong conversation pays a price.