Radio host Meshel Laurie has criticised TODAY’s Karl Stefanovic, arguing the TV host is flaunting his new relationship with model Jasmine Yarbrough.
Talking on her KIIS FM breakfast radio show with comedian Matt Tilley, Laurie said Stefanovic has been “insensitive” and she feels for his ex-wife Cassandra Thorburn.
Laurie’s comments come after 42-year-old Stefanovic posed for a photo with his new girlfriend for a Sydney hairdresser’s social media page, and sat by her side at Sydney’s Mercedes Benz Fashion Week last week.
“It feels a little insensitive,” Laurie said. “All you ever see are photos of the ex [Thorburn] cleaning out the house. She’s got the kids, she’s doing the life and Karl is at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, or he’s flying off overseas for holidays. I think this is a bit rude.”
“He’s posed for a cute photo waiting for his girlfriend to get her hair done … If you don’t want to be talked about, that’s probably the wrong way to go about it,” Laurie continued.
“Is he doing anything wrong? Well, it depends. Is it criminal? No. Is it illegal? No, is it a bit bloody shameless and rotten? Maybe.”
News of Karl’s new relationship broke in February this year when The Daily Telegraph published photos of the couple kissing on a super yacht.
When Laurie’s co-host Matt Tilley suggested they can’t “hide their love forever”, Laurie said Yarbrough should “just cop it” – at least in the short term.
“Do you know what? She can just cop it mate, because he’s got kids and an ex-wife who’s stood by him for 100 years and they have a life together that still needs to be protected.”
Interestingly, Laurie isn’t the first radio host – nor the first on KIIS FM to weigh in on the TV host’s new relationship. Just this month, Jackie O said on her own radio show that the women of Australia are “angry” at Karl for going public with his new love for a very specific reason.
“They see a mother who stood by him for all those years … This is what a lot of women would think: this is a lovely lady that stood by him for years, they have a family and they see him leave her,” Jackie O told co-host Kyle Sandilands, touching on a fear she believes many women have about their worth and their value as they age.
The backlash against Stefanovic, one of Australia’s most celebrated TV hosts and journalists, has ramped up since last week it was reported the couple settled their divorce for an unconfirmed amount.
Top Comments
Would it be better if it was she that was seen out and about with a newer, younger man? Would people be going on about how dreadful it must be for the kids that she is with this "younger" man, flaunting him to all and sundry? And who is to say that she has not already got a new man in her life, but because she is not in the public eye we don't see him??
I really feel that we should all let this man and his new girlfriend, and his ex-wife, live their lives in peace, and quit speculating on how dreadful it is that he has moved on with his life.
How is he flaunting it? Not his fault if the paps follow him around. Should they just stay home 24/7 to avoid them? And if so who decides what the right amount of time is right before he can 'flaunt' it?
I think the rules are that you get to flaunt it earlier if the new partner is older or the same age as the man, less attractive than the old partner, or if the ex-partner has already found someone else. Then a man can be allowed to move on, but cautiously, and not without the permission of the ex-partner and the public at large. The same rules do not apply to females - they can flaunt it as soon as they want, with whoever they want, because you go gurl - it would be unfeminist not to.
What an enlightened world we live in.
That was hilarious, but it does seem to be an unwritten rule - judging by the reactions.