Karl Stefanovic has continued to support a controversial neurosurgeon despite telling his detractors to “leave him the f*** alone.”
The Nine Entertainment star apologized to his coworkers in 2022 for supporting Charlie Teo, a brain surgeon who was under siege, but he told a Media Watch investigation on Monday that he still supports Teo.
Teo was formerly commended for treating patients with high-risk brain tumors, but his unethical behavior in 2023 led to severe practice limits.
Two patient deaths, concerns about whether the advantages of their surgeries outweighed the substantial risk, and whether they provided appropriate consent for the procedure all contributed to this behavior.
Teo is still practicing abroad, especially in China.
On Monday, ABC’s Media Watch focused on Teo’s case, emphasizing his strong relationships with Stefanovic and a News Corp writer.
“Charlie Teo is a great f***ing Australia,” Stefanovic wrote in a scathing email that was obtained by Daily Mail. Don’t bother him at all.
In March, Teo made an appearance on Stefanovic’s podcast, The Karl Stefanovic Show. They didn’t go into detail about why he was essentially prohibited from practicing; instead, they just touched on his controversies.
Stefanovic’s podcast, according to Media Watch host Linton Besser, ignored Dr. Teo’s penalties.
Teo made an appearance on Stefanovic’s podcast, which the Channel 9 AM TV show has been concentrating on more and more over the past year.
Rather, Teo was shown in the episode as being unfairly singled out by obsessive red tape.
“How did you get through it, the dramas?” Stefanovic asked, bringing up the delicate subject.
“I don’t want to focus on that because it is extremely negative and very sad,” Teo retorted.
“You can stand proud if you’re a good person, you’ve taken the high road, you treat your patients well, and you know that everything they’ve thrown at you is false.”Cream will always come out on top, even though I don’t want to say this since it seems like I’m bragging.
“Everything will work out if you’re good at what you do and you’re doing it for the right reasons.”
Charlie Teo, a neurosurgeon (above), was essentially prohibited from practicing in Australia as a result of numerous accusations regarding misbehavior and exorbitant costs.
Teo’s buddy Karl Stefanovic (above) has persisted in supporting and advocating for him.
Regarding Teo (above), Stefanovic remarked, “Charlie Teo is a great fing Australia.” Let him the f alone.
Stefanovic is an ambassador for Teo’s foundation in addition to being a close buddy.
Stefanovic’s company, Nine, owned 60 Minutes, The Age, and The Sydney Morning Herald, all of which harshly criticized the neurosurgeon in 2022.
These accounts emphasized the extremely high cost that patients had to pay as well as the serious physical consequences of some of Teo’s surgeries.
“I adore him and I love him and I’m just sorry this whole thing’s gone on for so long and continues to go on,” Stefanovic told Daily Mail at the time in response to that campaign.
Given how much I know Charlie is dedicated to his work, how much excellent work he performs, and how many lives he has saved, it is really hard to see the pile-on with him.
“I would hate to see this guy and all of his talent eliminated from a career in which he is so exceptionally talented.” That would be absurd.
Stefanovic later apologized to his coworkers at Nine over the remarks, according to Daily Mail.
On Monday, Linton Besser, host of Media Watch, emphasized Stefanovic’s prejudice in favor of Teo and the minimization of Teo’s wrongdoing, even though it was serious enough to warrant a censure from the Medical Council of NSW.
Besser responded to Stefanovic’s profanity-filled remarks on Monday by saying, “Karl, it’s not Teo we’re worried about.”
