Karl Stefanovic blocks comedian after video impersonating him goes viral – despite preaching about free speech
Karl Stefanovic has spent the past few weeks preaching about ‘free speech’, but it appears comedian Henry Bretz may have gone too far.
MIX FM Drive host and funnyman Bretz, whose impression clips of Karl have exceeded a million views since April, has revealed he has been blocked by the axed television host.
‘He followed me after my first video, and he actually liked the first video,’ Bretz told The Daily Telegraph.
‘Then the next day I posted another video that was maybe a little sharper in its criticism of him, and he unfollowed me after that.
‘My friends who are savvier on social media tell me that means I’ve been blocked,’ he said, before quipping: ‘Freedom of speech does have a ceiling, apparently.’
Bretz began impersonating Stefanovic in April when he noticed that he was trying to distance himself from mainstream media, despite being on television for 21 years.
Karl Stefanovic has spent the past few weeks preaching about ‘free speech’, but it appears comedian Henry Bretz (pictured) may have gone too far
MIX FM Drive host and funnyman Bretz, whose impression clips of Karl (pictured) have exceeded a million views since April, has revealed he has been blocked by the axed television host
His videos have gained a lot of attention online, including receiving comments from Karl’s former co-host Lisa Wilkinson, following his shock termination from Nine.
The clip, posted to Instagram, featured the comedian mocking Stefanovic in a satirical impression of the TV host.
‘So I get fired for speaking my mind, but let me ask you this. Lisa Wilkinson, when she was going on and on about all that women s**t, was she fired?’ Bretz asked, while imitating Stefanovic’s voice.
‘She wasn’t. Makes me so angry. What’s going on here?’ he added.
Wilkinson endorsed the clip by adding her own caption, writing: ‘This is hilarious. The brilliant @henry__bretz.’
She then added a cutting reference to her own bitter exit from Channel Nine.
‘Hey, hang on, I WAS fired for going on with all that “women’s s**t”…’ Wilkinson wrote.
Stefanovic abruptly resigned from the network after his interview with far-right figure Tommy Robinson, which he uploaded to his podcast, The Karl Stefanovic Show, to YouTube on Tuesday, only to delete it hours later after facing backlash.
Bretz began impersonating Stefanovic in April when he noticed that he was trying to distance himself from mainstream media, despite being on television for 21 years
His videos have gained a lot of attention online, including comments from Karl’s former co-host Lisa Wilkinson, following his shock termination from Nine
In a statement to The Daily Mail, Channel Nine said that Stefanovic could not continue working at the network while also hosting his podcast.
The TV star, who has been a Nine stalwart for some 25 years, had six months and over $1million left to be paid on his 12-month contract.
Stefanovic and Nine are believed to have agreed to an undisclosed six-figure settlement as part of his termination package.
Lisa was said to be on a $1.1million a year contract, with Nine only willing to increase the amount to $1.8million, according to The Daily Telegraph.
Wilkinson recalled feeling ‘humiliated’ when she was dismissed from Nine and the Today show in October 2017 over the reported gender pay gap dispute.
The star, who joined The Sunday Project in 2018 after leaving Today, fought back tears as she told The Sunday Project’s Hamish Macdonald how ‘pathetic’ she felt when told by her agent of her ousting.
When asked just how ‘big’ the pay gap was, Lisa hinted at it being quite significant and said she was ‘very expendable’.
Lisa revealed that she was told by her agent of her dismissal from Nine while standing ‘in aisle six at Woolies (sic) holding a can of tuna’.
Lisa worked alongside Karl on the Today Show for a decade, before her controversial departure in 2017 over a reported gender pay gap. Pictured with Karl in 2014
‘I felt stupid and humiliated and betrayed… and pretty pathetic,’ she said, fighting back tears.
The former magazine editor revealed how Nine was unaware she was looking for employment elsewhere while the reported gender pay gap dispute was discussed.
‘No one knew I had this offer from Channel Ten. I think the idea was to humiliate me because I’d been in negotiations to try and close the gender pay gap,’ she said.
‘Doesn’t get much bigger than the gap that I experienced. I was very expendable. I didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye to the audience. I was told, “That’s it”.’
The journalist went on to admit that she’s ‘not really in touch’ with former co-host Karl.
However, earlier this year, Wilkinson returned after eight years away from the Today Show, appearing alongside Stefanovic and Sarah Abo for a one-off visit to promote her book, The Titanic Story of Evelyn.
