Lisa Wilkinson reignites long-running feud with Karl Stefanovic
Karl Stefanovic’s former Today co-star Lisa Wilkinson has reignited their long-running feud after poking fun at the ousted Nine star.
Lisa Wilkinson has seemingly reignited her feud with ousted Nine star Karl Stefanovic.
Wilkinson’s much-publicised feud with her former co-star began back in 2017 when she revealed an equal pay dispute with Stefanovic prompted her to leave Channel 9.
At the time, she wrote in her autobiography that she’d been left angered after Stefanovic struck a new deal that meant he would be earning $2 million – more than double what she was earning at the network.
It seems Wilkinson’s bitterness toward Stefanovic hasn’t gone away with time after she took to Instagram on Monday to share a video of comedian Henry Bretz poking fun at what he imagined Stefanovic’s reaction to losing his job have been behind closed doors.
Comedian Henry Bretz poked fun at Stefanovic in a satirical skit. Picture: Instagram
Wilkinson re-posted the skit to her own Instagram page in a move that delighted her followers. Picture: Supplied
“So I get fired for speaking my mind. But let me ask you this: Lisa Wilkinson, when she was going on and on about women’s sh** was she fired? She wasn’t. Makes me so angry,” said the comedian while doing an impression of Stefanovic in a satirical video.
Wilkinson re-posted the clip to her Instagram page and couldn’t wait to tell her followers how much she enjoyed the skit.
“This is hilarious. The brilliant @henry__bretz ???? Hey, hang on, I WAS fired for going on about all that ‘women’s sh**’” the TV star captioned the post she shared.
Fans rushed to agree with Wilkinson, with many showering the presenter’s comment section with laughing emoji faces.
MORE: Karl’s secret $20m plan after shock Nine exit
“When they go low we go high… you are awesome Lisa,” commented one fan.
Ben Fordham, Lisa Wilkinson and Karl Stefanovic during happier times at the 2014 Logie Awards. Picture: WireImage.
“I could watch this for days,” remarked another.
While Wilkinson insisted in her tell-all book that it was Stefanovic that was earning the most coin, insiders at the time made bombshell claims that it was actually the other way around for a number of years during the time they worked together.
In fact, he was earning half what she was signed on for by then CEO Eddie Maguire.
“When they were first on the show, she was paid a lot more than he was,’’ a Nine executive revealed in the days after it decided not to renew Wilkinson’s contract after six months of tense negotiations.
“That’s what everyone internally understood. Then, he was able to wedge a fee increase because Seven made him a big offer. If Nine wanted to keep him, they had to pay him, which is what happened.”
Wilkinson was all smiled when she previously returned to Today Show as a guest. Picture: Supplied
“If you look at what he’s paid now, it’s probably not too dissimilar to what she was offered. So, you know, you can take things in a point of time, but I don’t think there would have been much difference between the two now.”
Despite Wilkinson’s claims, Nine was reported to have offered to increase her salary to a $1.8m annual package, which would have put her and Stefanovic on a similar pay scale.
The broadcaster inisted that had Wilkinson remained at the station she would have been earning the same Today salary as Stefanovic.
It said that Stefanovic would only have been earning more with the arrangement due to “extra commitments” at the network that Wilkinson was not participating in.