Radio host Em Rusciano has sounded a thoughtful warning to those who are finding “enjoyment” from the Stefanovic phone call saga, reminding her audiences on radio this morning few of us would escape unscathed if our most private conversations were made public.
Talking on her 2Day FM radio show with Grant Denyer and Ed Kavalee, Rusciano said while she didn’t think it was clever having a private conversation in public, the blame lies solely with the Uber driver making the conversation public.
“It’s almost like they were putting on a performance for the driver. I certainly wouldn’t have a private conversation in a car with a driver I didn’t know on speakerphone.
“The whole thing is shaky,” she said, before going on to slam both New Idea for paying for an interview with the driver and the driver in question.
Georgie Gardner calls Karl Stefanovic “pathetic” on The Today Show in the video below. (Read more here.)
Top Comments
She's right..........It's still nice to see these smug boys brought down a peg or two, though.
Jeez, though, just thinking about the last conversation I had about my boss to my partner.........EEK!
I don't know why people think they are smug, maybe it is envy from the people who say that? All I see is the relentless Australian Tall poppy syndrome. Instead of celebrating Australians and their successes, we need to miserably rain on their parade and try to bring them down to our level. It is a serious fault Australia's psyche has.
I think she's right, we do all bitch about others. The thing is, Karl did it in front of a stranger, on speakerphone. In this day and age of smart phones, he might as well have just said it while he was on air. My husband will come home and have a vent about That Guy At Work, but it happens in private. So, mistakes/bad behaviour all around here. The driver is without question out of line. New Idea is as sleazy as ever. And Karl has learned a hard lesson about watching what he says in public.
To play Devil's Advocate, why should he be careful about saying stuff in public, if that stuff is perfectly reasonable? I think the upshot of these "shocking" revelations is that what he said wasn't really that shocking or worthy of clutching one's pearls. The Uber driver could have recorded him talking about what to buy at Woolies on the way home - it would have been equally as extraordinary and newsworthy, really.
Exactly - we all have to watch what we say IN PUBLIC. I run a business in a regional area - I cannot bitch about my colleagues to pretty much anyone as there’s is a high chance someone know someone.
At my last job, I had my boss give me a formal warning for something I hadn’t done. I was out for dinner with 6 friends that night and every one of them was either a client or their parents were. Complaining about colleagues when it can actually lose your workplace clients or money takes it to another level. So if I have to worry about that, so does Karl (although I still think New Idea and the driver were in the wrong so I refuse to read the details of the story).
Criticising well known coworkers is quite different to a shopping list, and something which could quite easily be made into a bigger deal than it needs to be. He’s a ‘celebrity’, and after the year he’s had (very publicly reported divorce/new relationship etc), I would have thought he’d be a little more aware of how easily his actions can be exaggerated and twisted. If he doesn’t care that it’s reported, though, then he should go ahead and say whatever he likes, no matter where he is. But now, he is aware that he can be recognised and have his conversations reported, he will have to deal with the consequences.
Judging by the comments on this site alone, there appears to be far more of a "what he said wasn't controversial or shocking at all" sentiment, rather than a "how very dare he say such terrible things" outcry. I suspect it'll all blow over; nobody actually cares. He certainly needs to be careful about saying truly terrible things (for instance, to talk loudly in the back of an Uber about being a KKK supporter would not be a smart career move), but a bit of (arguably justified) bitching and moaning will slide right off, methinks.