Karl Stefanovic poses for a photo during the announcement of the nominees for the 2022 TV WEEK Logie Awards on the Gold Coast, on May 15, 2022. AAP Image/Jono Searle
Karl Stefanovic denies conduct oppressing his business partner after their relationship soured and has agreed to buy her out of their podcast company.
The long-time face of Nine’s flagship Today program, 52, and the joint owner of podcast company 123 Podcast, Keshnee Ibrahim, 36, have irreconcilable differences, a NSW Supreme Court hearing was told on Sept. 15.
Ibrahim filed an urgent application for the court to defer a meeting scheduled for Sept. 18, fearing she would be removed as a director of the company.
Both she and Stefanovic own 45-percent stakes in the company that oversees The Karl Stefanovic Show.
The podcast has been on hiatus since Aug. 24, when Stefanovic interviewed a de-aging expert.
That came two months after his interview with right-leaning British influencer Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, aka Tommy Robinson, led Nine to terminate his role as Today host.
Stefanovic’s lawyer told the court on Sept. 15 the former TV host had agreed not to go ahead with the Sept. 18 meeting and wanted the court to decide the issue of a buyout, as early as next week.
Stefanovic agreed there had been an “irreconcilable breakdown” in the relationship and that a buyout of the shares was appropriate, lawyer Samuel Murray told the court.
But he disagreed that the company was run in a way that was oppressive of Ibrahim’s interests, as she alleges.
Stefanovic instructed Murray he would not be seeking a valuation for the shares in the company after Aug. 7, from which time he argued Ibrahim had no economic interest in the continued running of the company.
“The seventh of August date is important because seventh of August is before the majority of the conduct that’s complained about actually occurs,” Murray said.
At that time, Stefanovic was promoting an interview on his podcast with One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson, posting a picture of the senator along with himself and his wife Jasmine, with the caption, “Luckiest girls in the world.”
Shortly after, the channel fell silent.
The show had garnered about 23 million views on YouTube.
The parties had agreed to hire an independent valuer to determine what the company was worth and facilitate a buyout, Murray said.
The former TV host agreed to hold the company meeting instead the following Friday, to which Justice David Hammerschlag objected.
“That’s your client putting pressure on me, which is an invitation I'll kindly decline,” he said.
“I'll just stop the meeting until such time as the proceedings are resolved.”
The matter has been set for a hearing on Oct. 13.
By Duncan Murray in Melbourne
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