“Stuff the lot of them!”: Karl Stefanovic's harsh words
Former Today host Karl Stefanovic has defended his Channel 9 colleague Deborah Knight after she revealed that she spends part of everyday “just dealing with trolls”.
Knight was being interviewed by Stefanovic on radio station 2GB when she revealed just how bad the trolls are.
“I don’t want to beat up the impact that the trolls are having on me because I’m a tough cookie and I’m in the public eye,” she started off.
“I’ve got to work to make a living and I shouldn’t have to apologise for that. I’m flabbergasted that working hard is something that is considered a negative.
“Mummy guilt is a vicious thing. I beat myself up about it enough as it is. I’d love to spend more time at home and not have to work to make a living.
“But since when did working hard to create a future for my kids become something to criticise?” she finished.
Stefanovic was in disbelief that his colleague had to deal with “mummy guilt”.
“I can’t believe you have to deal with this," Stefanovic told her. “You are an incredible broadcaster, a great mum and a good person. Stuff the lot of them.”
Stefanovic said he had also felt the wrath of Facebook and Twitter trolls.
“Sometimes it can get you at the wrong time of day, or you’re having a tough week and you take real offence to it,” he said on 2GB.
“There are people out there who aren’t used to it who are really going to be bullied.
“They’re called keyboard warriors, but I like to refer to them as keyboard cowards.”
Knight agreed.
“People who hide behind the keyboard need to lay off the pile on mentality. It’s so boring.”
WSFM breakfast host and Channel 10 personality Amanda Keller came to Knight’s defence as well and said that she had been “triggered” by online abuse.
“I get defensive when people say to me, ‘God, could you be any busier?’ or ‘When are you ever at home?’ because they’ve seen me on a show that was recorded in the middle of the day, two months ago,” she said on WSFM’s Jonsey and Amanda show yesterday morning.