Stefanovic in legal battle with podcast partner as talkback offer lapses
2GB and 3AW owner Tapt Media offered former Today show host Karl Stefanovic trial shifts on its Sydney station after his relationship with the Nine network disintegrated.
The offer to broadcast over summer, which sources familiar with Tapt’s thinking said had since lapsed, would have represented a pathway back to mainstream media for Stefanovic, who is now also contending with a legal dispute from the business partner behind his Karl Stefanovic Show podcast.
Stefanovic and his business partner Keshnee Ibrahim, nee Kemp, are scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Tuesday in the NSW Supreme Court in a battle over the company behind the venture, 123 Podcast Pty Ltd.
Ibrahim, a producer, former magazine editor and digital marketing executive, co-founded the company with Stefanovic and retains a 45 per cent stake in the entity that has not published any new episodes for three weeks.
The pair are reportedly at odds over who was to blame for a controversial interview Stefanovic conducted with British far-right provocateur Tommy Robinson, and control of the business.
Stefanovic is now likely to push ahead with his new venture though with a new editorial strategy and personal control, with sources close to him saying he believes he went too far chasing a far-right audience.
The offer to run some trial shifts with Tapt Media was expected to only relate to Sydney talkback station 2GB. The company, which is owned by the billionaire publican Laundy family, wanted to test both audience and advertiser sentiment before committing to a permanent deal.
Stefanovic is unlikely to be joining the company, sources told this masthead.
Corporate filings show Stefanovic owns 45 per cent of the business behind his podcast, which is equal to the holding of Ibrahim and her husband. Stefanovic’s agent and accountant Anthony Bell owns the final 10 per cent.
Advertising deals have dried up for Stefanovic. He launched the podcast earlier this year alongside his ongoing role as Today host, in what was expected to be his final year hosting the breakfast television program.
It quickly became clear Stefanovic was chasing a growing section of the online right-wing audience, interviewing a rotating case of populist politicians and controversial figures, including conspiracy theorists and fascists.
That angered Nine, which owns this masthead and sold 2Gb earlier this year, leading to his sacking after the Robinson interview.
Stefanovic now wants to bring his podcast’s content back to the centre in hopes of securing more advertising deals and a wider audience, the sources said. During another interview in the UK, Stefanovic said he would “gratefully” take funding from the world’s richest man Elon Musk, who has funded numerous right-wing political causes around the world.
But he has not declared any high-value sponsorship arrangements with big name conservatives and this masthead revealed last week that rural clothing chain Ringers Western had ended its sponsorship of Stefanovic’s show.
Sources familiar with Stefanovic’s thinking said he blamed Ibrahim for the controversy surrounding his interview with the convicted criminal, Robinson.
But during the interview and on social media, Stefanovic was deferential toward Robinson, saying “god, I love ya,” at one point.
The Robinson interview was removed shortly after it was uploaded.
News.com.au reported that Ibrahim believed the Robinson interview was Stefanovic’s idea and said she was asking the court to force her business partner to buy out her share of their company at a fair price.
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