{"id":756325,"date":"2026-06-24T02:41:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T02:41:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/756325\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T02:41:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T02:41:22","slug":"karl-stefanovics-interview-with-tommy-robinson-pulled-from-social-media-and-podcast-platforms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/756325\/","title":{"rendered":"Karl Stefanovic’s interview with Tommy Robinson pulled from social media and podcast platforms"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today show host turned podcaster Karl Stefanovic has had an interview with far-right extremist Tommy Robinson taken down from social media and podcast platforms.<\/p>\n

Robinson is one of the most divisive anti-immigration voices in the United Kingdom and he co-founded the far-right English Defence League movement.<\/p>\n

In a promotional video for the podcast, Stefanovic and Robinson have their arms around each other and discuss the resignation of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.<\/p>\n

Robinson says, “Can I ask you a question? Keir Starmer is a-“<\/p>\n

“Wanker,” Stefanovic finishes.<\/p>\n

\"Karl<\/p>\n

A promotional video for the podcast has since been removed from social media. (Supplied: Instagram)<\/p>\n

Since being taken down from Stefanovic’s platforms, the full interview has been posted online by One Nation leader Pauline Hanson.<\/p>\n

She also posted a segment of the interview on social media platform X.<\/p>\n

“It looks like they’re trying to sack my good friend Karl Stefanovic for this video with Tommy Robinson!” she wrote.<\/p>\n

“Have Channel 9 become just as bad as the ABC?”<\/p>\n

Loading…The Karl Stefanovic Show<\/p>\n

In the interview that goes for nearly an hour, Stefanovic and Robinson discuss topics such as free speech, distrust of institutions, immigration, the mainstream media, and claim a “cultural revolution” is underway.<\/p>\n

Robinson is one of many guests who criticise the mainstream media, despite Stefanovic being one of Australia’s most highly paid television personalities in mainstream commercial media.<\/p>\n

Stefanovic’s podcast launched in January this year, with his employer Channel Nine saying it was a completely independent production.<\/p>\n

He bills the podcast as unfiltered, unscripted and uncensored, and a chance for him “to be curious”.<\/p>\n

Many of his guests have included prominent figures from right-wing political circles, and Senator Hanson was his first guest on the podcast.<\/p>\n

Other guests have included Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, former Liberal prime ministers John Howard and Tony Abbott, and other mainstream Australian politicians.<\/p>\n

\"Karl<\/p>\n

Karl Stefanovic recently travelled to the United Kingdom for a series of interviews. (Supplied: The Karl Stefanovic Show)<\/p>\n

But this latest interview marks a significant shift to the far right of the political debate.<\/p>\n

Mr Robinson, born Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon, is a far-right, anti-Islam, anti-migration activist who has been a feature of British political life for more than a decade.<\/p>\n

He has been convicted of contempt of court, using a false passport, fraud, assault, and has even been jailed.<\/p>\n

He was a member of the extreme-right British National Party, and he was behind the now-defunct English Defence League, an anti-Islamic protest organisation.<\/p>\n

Bath University recently published research on how Mr Robinson was able to mobilise his followers for anti-migrant riots in Southport, UK, in late 2024.<\/p>\n

\"Tommy<\/p>\n

Tommy Robinson has communicated directly with his followers through the messaging platform Telegram. (Suppplied: The Karl Stefanovic Show)<\/p>\n

Darja Wischerath, who co-authored the research, said while Mr Robinson had not directly incited violence, which is a criminal offence in the UK, he did help instigate elements of the riots.<\/p>\n

“He never explicitly says, ‘Go out and riot, cause harm,'” she said.<\/p>\n

“Instead, what he does is say, ‘We’ve tried all of these peaceful ways. They have all failed,’ and nothing more.”<\/p>\n

“He leaves a lot open for his followers to interpret, which especially in the context of protests where lots of emotions are inflamed, can just create the preconditions for violence.”<\/p>\n

More recently, Mr Robinson was at far-right rallies in response to the fatal stabbing of 18-year-old student Henry Novak, and he supported the anti-migrant protests in Belfast, Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n

Belfast stabbing on social media<\/a><\/p>\n

Billionaire Elon Musk and far-right activist Tommy Robinson have seized upon the alleged stabbing of a man in Belfast by a Sudanese immigrant to push an anti-immigration agenda.<\/p>\n

Dr Wischerath says his strategy was to connect current events with conspiracy theories about immigration and government.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It really keeps him in the Zeitgeist,” she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It keeps his followers engaged with him. He’s almost a parasocial relationship figure for a lot of them.<\/p>\n

“And obviously he is a political influencer and exerting that influence over his followers is ultimately part of his goal.”<\/p>\n

Political figures across the British political spectrum have condemned and distanced themselves from Mr Robinson.<\/p>\n

Former Conservative prime minister Boris Johnson called him a far-right thug, as did Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who said he would not be welcome in his right-wing Reform Party.<\/p>\n

\"Karl<\/p>\n

Karl Stefanvoic’s employer, Channel Nine, says his podcast is a completely independent production. (Supplied: The Karl Stefanovic Show)<\/p>\n

Nine says podcast completely independent<\/p>\n

The ABC contacted Channel Nine about the interview.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson said the Karl Stefanovic Show was a completely independent production and that Channel Nine had no involvement in it, including in guest selection and other editorial processes.<\/p>\n

Stefanovic, who is in the UK and not on Nine’s screens on Wednesday, was contacted for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Today show host turned podcaster Karl Stefanovic has had an interview with far-right extremist Tommy Robinson taken down…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":756326,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,183744,361959,12304,44,14754,53567],"class_list":["post-756325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-british-national-party","tag-english-defence-league","tag-karl-stefanovic","tag-news","tag-pauline-hanson","tag-tommy-robinson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=756325"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756325\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/756326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=756325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=756325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=756325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}