{"id":885612,"date":"2026-09-09T11:40:24","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T11:40:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/885612\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T11:40:24","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T11:40:24","slug":"questions-over-karl-stefanovic-podcast-as-sponsor-walks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/885612\/","title":{"rendered":"Questions over Karl Stefanovic podcast as sponsor walks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Questions are being raised about the future of\u00a0Karl Stefanovic\u2019s independent podcast, with\u00a0The Karl Stefanovic Show\u00a0going quiet for more than two weeks after its major sponsor walked away.<\/p>\n

The podcast has not released a new episode or posted fresh content across its social channels since 24 August, marking an abrupt pause for the venture that only months ago sat at the centre of Stefanovic\u2019s dramatic departure from Nine.<\/p>\n

The silence also comes as country clothing brand Ringers Western, which had been heavily promoted across Stefanovic\u2019s video content, confirmed its sponsorship deal with the show had ended.<\/p>\n

Stefanovic regularly appeared in Ringers Western clothing in content produced for the show, including during his August interview with One Nation leader Pauline Hanson.<\/p>\n

Mediaweek has contacted Stefanovic\u2019s business partner and producer Keshnee Kemp for comment.<\/p>\n

\"mediaweek\"\"MorningThe leading media trade publication in Australia.<\/p>\n

Get our top stories straight to your inbox daily by signing up to our Newsletter<\/p>\n

\"Karl
\nStefanovic during his chat with Robinson<\/p>\n

\u2018He\u2019s just not contactable\u2019<\/p>\n

Stefanovic\u2019s absence has not gone unnoticed elsewhere.<\/p>\n

His radio silence became a talking point on Kyle Sandilands Live, after the program\u2019s executive producer Jaimee \u2018Mayo\u2019 Hassos revealed she had been unable to reach Stefanovic about appearing on the show.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel bad for Karlo because something is amiss right now. He\u2019s like vanished off the face of the earth. He\u2019s just not contactable at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The show\u2019s gossip newsreader,\u00a0Mary Madigan,\u00a0then pointed to the lack of new podcast episodes and the questions being raised by Stefanovic\u2019s followers.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe hasn’t been doing as many podcast episodes. And then there are all these people commenting under his Instagram, like, where’s Karl? They’re looking for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newsreader Brooklyn Ross was more succinct, describing the situation as \u201csuss\u201d.<\/p>\n

Stefanovic has not completely disappeared from public view. He posted a video to his personal Instagram account on 29 August showing himself attending Griffith\u2019s Taste of Italy Festival.<\/p>\n

But on the platform that became central to the biggest professional upheaval of his career, things have become noticeably quiet.<\/p>\n

The podcast behind his Nine exit<\/p>\n

The uncertainty comes less than three months after The Karl Stefanovic Show became the catalyst for Stefanovic\u2019s immediate departure from Nine.<\/p>\n

In June, Nine confirmed Stefanovic would leave Today and the network immediately, bringing forward an exit originally planned for the end of 2026.<\/p>\n

The decision followed controversy surrounding an interview on Stefanovic\u2019s independent podcast with British activist Tommy Robinson, which disappeared from YouTube and other platforms less than 24 hours after it was published.<\/p>\n

At the time, Nine stressed that the podcast operated independently of the network.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Karl Stefanovic Show is a completely independent production. Nine has no involvement, including in the guest selection and other editorial processes. However, Nine is taking this matter seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n

Within days, however, Nine and Stefanovic had agreed that the separation between his television role and independent media business was no longer workable.<\/p>\n

\u201cNine Entertainment and Karl Stefanovic have agreed that it is no longer possible for him to continue hosting Today at the same time as his independent podcast,\u201d Nine said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile Karl and Nine had previously agreed he would leave Today at the end of this year, they have subsequently decided he will leave the Network immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fallout also reached ARN, where Stefanovic stepped away from The Long Weekend, which he co-hosted with Eddie McGuire, to allow the parties time to \u201creview the situation\u201d.<\/p>\n

ARN subsequently distanced itself from Stefanovic\u2019s independent work.<\/p>\n

\u201cKarl’s association with ARN is limited to specific radio engagements,\u201d an ARN spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis 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. They do not represent ARN’s views, editorial standards or programming.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, less than three months after the podcast proved powerful enough to help end Stefanovic\u2019s two-decade relationship with Nine, the question is whether The Karl Stefanovic Show itself has a next chapter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Questions are being raised about the future of\u00a0Karl Stefanovic\u2019s independent podcast, with\u00a0The Karl Stefanovic Show\u00a0going quiet for more…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":885613,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,134],"class_list":["post-885612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/885612","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=885612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/885612\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/885613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=885612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=885612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=885612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}