Jessica Rowe defended one of her “dearest friends,” Georgie Gardner, during a discussion on Studio 10 this morning, regarding the now infamous Uber conversation between Peter and Karl Stefanovic.
The exchange took place on loud speaker as Peter Stefanovic sat in the backseat of an Uber, and has since been relayed by the driver of the vehicle to New Idea magazine.
Karl Stefanovic expressed frustration towards his new Today co-host, Gardner, who he claimed does not hold strong enough opinions. He criticised her for “sitting on the fence,” and said if she wants to maintain her spot on the program, she will have to “step up”.
It has been rumoured for some time that Georgie Gardner and Karl Stefanovic are not ‘friends’. We discuss on Mamamia Out Loud. Post continues below.
Rowe began by conceding the phone call should never have been recorded, however, “I don’t think these two [Karl and Peter Stefanovic] are victims”.
She continued, “If you have nothing nice to say about someone, do it behind closed doors. Do not do it on speakerphone where people are listening.”
The 47-year-old journalist and author spoke highly of Gardner, calling her an “incredible journalist,” and insisting, “she is not neutral about anything, she’s strong, she’s committed, she’s passionate.
“I’m sick of blokes saying negative things about women,” she said.
Rowe left the Nine Network in 2007, writing in her 2015 book that “Nine hung [her] out to dry”.
It was alleged that Eddie McGuire, the CEO of Nine at the time, tried to have her sacked – and eventually Rowe was let go while on maternity leave.
Top Comments
So she's cool with the criticism they levelled at men? And with conversations being covertly recorded then sold to the highest bidder? I suppose if she had the same thing happen to her, she wouldn't consider herself the victim of a gross invasion of privacy?
98% of the outrage here should be directed at the driver who violated the Stefanovic brothers' privacy.
I don't know the full extent of the criticism, but from what I've heard, being called a 'fence sitter' isn't the gravest of insults. It may even be quite constructive criticism (I don't watch the show).
It seems that the brothers were equally critical of Dicky and their male managers.
Everyone has had a little Stefanobitch about colleagues on occasion, these comments weren't even made in the workplace.
Ho-hum to all the profile-raising piler-on-ers.
Upvoted for adding Stefanobitch to my vocabulary