Karl Stefanovic has issued a grovelling apology to controversial TV chef Pete Evans, as newly resurfaced footage shows the moment he mocked him over his anti-vaccine views.
While welcoming Evans as a guest on his ‘The Karl Stefanovic Show’ podcast on Monday, Stefanovic quickly moved to address how he had treated the celebrity chef during the pandemic.
‘I wasn’t sure whether you’d accept the invitation because I wasn’t sure how I was with you during Covid,’ Stefanovic said.
‘But I want to say one thing: history will judge your character assassination very poorly.
‘At the time your stuff was going nuts, I think I was very judgy about a manner of things. I don’t know if I said anything directly about you being a whack-job, or really tore you apart. If I did, I’m terribly sorry mate.
‘I remember after about the second injection and I’d had maybe I’d had it like two or three times. I was thinking, “God, what are we doing this for?” – and then I started to think about the messaging that was coming out. I was starting to think about the government ads that were on the station.’
The apology comes after footage from March 2021 resurfaced showing Stefanovic joking about Evans during a stand-up comedy segment on the Today show.
‘Pete Evans, finally, is running independently for parliament. He doesn’t think everyone should get the vaccine so given how slowly it’s being rolled out across the country, he may as well join the Liberal Party,’ Stefanovic said at the time, laughing as he pumped his fist.
Karl Stefanovic issued a groveling apology to controversial TV chef Pete Evans on his podcast
Stefanovic said he started to think about the impact of ‘the messaging’ when he had his second or third COVID vaccine jab
At the height of the pandemic in 2021, Stefanovic fronted Channel Nine’s ‘This Is Our Shot’ Covid vaccination campaign, calling on Australians to get vaccinated.
He has since apologised for supporting the campaign and failing to question government mandates imposed during the pandemic.
‘The one thing they say about me is that I supported the Covid jab, and I have regrets from that time,’ Stefanovic said.
‘I am definitely sorry for the role I played in not questioning the science, in not questioning more the government mandates, and I feel like I isolated people because of that, and I don’t think the media should be involved in that kind of messaging.
‘What I do believe is that we should have been there to offer some sort of education, but we shouldn’t have taken that step further and been part of a campaign.
‘And I’m legitimately sorry for that, because I don’t know how that would have felt for people out there.’
Evans became one of Australia’s most controversial public figures during the Covid pandemic after he became a fierce opponent of lockdowns and vaccine mandates.
His career came under intense scrutiny after he shared disputed claims about Covid-19 and vaccines on social media, while also describing Covid-19 as a ‘bulls*** virus’.
In March 2021, Stefanovic performed a stand up comedy segment on the Today show, taking aim at Evans’ anti-vax stance
Evans questioned the severity of the COVID pandemic on his social media platforms
The controversy ultimately led to Evans departing Channel Seven and My Kitchen Rules in 2020.
His social media accounts were later permanently removed for repeated breaches of misinformation policies, and he was fined $25,000 by Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration for promoting an unproven device as a Covid-19 treatment.
Evans told Stefanovic he believed he had been subjected to a ‘character assassination’ over his views.
‘My Kitchen Rules was number one, nationally, and if you’re a rival network, you will find any excuse to have a go at one of the people on the show,’ he said.
‘I get that, but what was really surprising, which I didn’t understand at the time, but quickly came to realise, was this was a threat to pharmaceutical companies and the medical establishment.’
