Former Today host Karl Stefanovic has cited an “irreconcilable breakdown” in dealings with his business partner as the New South Wales supreme court weighs how best to divvy up their holdings in a fledgling podcast.
The relationship between the long-time face of Nine’s flagship Today program and the joint owner of podcast company 123 Podcast, Keshnee Ibrahim, has irretrievably broken down, the court heard on Tuesday.
Ibrahim, 36, filed an urgent application on Monday for the court to defer a meeting scheduled for 18 September, fearing she would be removed as a director of the company. Both she and Stefanovic, 52, own 45% stakes in the podcast enterprise that oversees The Karl Stefanovic Show.
Justice David Hammerschlag said there were two options going forward amid the spat: the company could be wound up on an “equal basis” with a liquidator determining its value; or Stefanovic could buy out his former partner.
“Then the question just becomes – what’s the value for the buyout?” Hammerschlag said on Tuesday in Sydney.
The short-lived podcast has been on hiatus since 24 August when Stefanovic interviewed a de-aging expert. That came two months after his controversial interview with far-right figure Stephen Yaxley Lennon, commonly known as Tommy Robinson, triggered a public backlash and led Nine to terminate his role as Today host.
Stefanovic’s lawyer told the court on Tuesday the former TV host had agreed not to go ahead with Friday’s 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, his 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 has alleged.
Stefanovic had asked for a valuation to be determined based on its value before 7 August, suggesting that date was an important moment in the breakdown in relations between the pair.
“The 7 August date is important because [it] 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”.
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The judge said on Tuesday he was unable to decide now how the 7 August date would affect the valuation of any buyout agreement.
He ordered the lawyers for both sides to agree on an independent valuer and submit figures to his chambers. After a brief adjournment, the two sides agreed on a third party to do the valuation.
“There’s going to be a buyout,” Hammerschlag said. “So the question’s become, what effect, if any, would the alleged oppression have on the value”.
Hammerschlag set another hearing date for 13 October.
“This is obviously something that, if it can be settled, it should be settled,” Hammerschlag said.
Stefanovic’s podcast show has garnered about 23m views on YouTube.
