Karl Stefanovic has launched a tirade against the media circus surrounding Schapelle Corby, branding major networks “idiots”.
Credit: The Today Show Twitter
Australian TV host Karl Stefanovic has launched an extraordinary tirade against the media circus surrounding Schapelle Corby's return home, branding major networks - including his own - as "idiots".
During a heated discussion with his Today colleagues on Monday morning, Stefanovic bemoaned the ongoing coverage of the convicted drug smuggler's journey to Brisbane, after 13 years behind bars in Indonesia.
Schapelle Corby spent 13 years behind bars in Indonesia. Photo / AP
"I realise there's interest but why oh why oh why?" the Channel Nine host ranted.
"Schapelle Corby - rightly or wrongly - has been convicted of drug smuggling.
"She's done her time and has the right to live her life in relative peace - if that's what she wants. Maybe she wants mayhem. Whatever. I don't care."
The convicted drug smuggler left Bali on Saturday, touching down in Brisbane early yesterday.
Corby, 39, and her sister Mercedes were escorted from the plane and into a waiting convoy, leading a string of media on a wild-goose chase through southeast Queensland, while men wearing masks appeared in the doorway of her mother's home to taunt waiting reporters.
Corby, who started her own Instagram account hours before leaving Indonesia to document the circus around her, has not been seen since arriving back on home soil.
And according to Stefanovic, it made them all look stupid.
"There are far more important things in life than pursuing and losing Schapelle Corby. We in the media have a responsibility to inform but I reckon we were all made to look like idiots yesterday - and to what end?
"Where Schapelle is, what she looks like ... come on. We know. And you know what? It ain't that interesting. Move along, please."
However, his co-host Lisa Wilkinson disagreed, pointing out that we've only ever heard her story through the Corby family.
"For 13 years, we've all followed the ups and downs of this young woman's story, and had our thoughts on her guilty and innocence, but we've never really heard from the woman directly," Wilkinson argued.
Australian drug smuggler Schapelle Corby covered her head with a scarf is escorted by Indonesian police officers to get on a car as she leaves the parole office in Bali, Indonesia. Photo / AP
"I want to hear what she says actually happened - how the whole saga unfolded, how she coped inside, and what her plans are from here."
Although there's been no word yet on any interview deals, given that the hype surrounding the Corby circus doesn't appear to be dying down anytime soon, she's likely to get her wish.
Meanwhile, the same debate was happening over at Seven's rival show Sunrise - although David Koch was defending the "over the top" coverage, claiming Australia simply can't get enough of the story.
"Everyone's so interested, it's amazing."
FOCUS TURNS TO CORBY'S CASH
Questions are now being asked about the cost of the elaborate Bali exit plan, which began on the streets of Kuta with armoured vehicles and ended yesterday with a motorcade of up to eight Mercedes-Benz's used to confuse the waiting media.
Corby left Indonesia under security escort after a final meeting with parole officers.
She booked business class seats on two separate airlines and switched flights at the last minute, leaving dozens of reporters and photographers on the wrong plane.
After touching down in Australia, it is believed she was whisked to the five-star Sofitel Hotel in Brisbane's CBD, where she possibly remains, while her family, including sister Mercedes, partied at her mother's home in Loganlea.
Corby is not allowed to profit from her crime, and famously had A$128,000 from the sale of her biography My Story seized under Proceeds of Crime laws in 2009.
Melbourne lawyer Christian Juebner said there may still be ways for the Corby's to spin a buck.
"Schapelle Corby can't make money as a result of her notoriety ... arising from her offending but other people can," Juebner said.
Mercedes Corby, sister of Schapelle Corby, arrives at her mother Rosleigh Rose's residence in Loganlea, south of Brisbane. Photo / AAP
"If, ultimately, it's proved that the money flowed back to Schapelle Corby or she received some benefit - it doesn't have to be actual money, just some commercial benefit - then the restraining order [on the funds] could be made."
Meanwhile, the mastermind behind Corby's clever evasion of the world's media has been revealed as Eleanor Whitman, a female ex-army officer turned security professional.
Ms Whitman, who works for Tora Solutions, the security firm run by Corby's bodyguard, John McLeod, was revealed as the brains behind the operation by her proud dad on social media, Mail Online reported.
"It's not every day that you get to pull the wool over the eyes of the Australian Media Circus, but our daughter Eleanor did it this morning," her father Paul Whitman wrote.
Kochie sums up Australia's love-to-hate relationship with Schapelle Corby following this weekend's media circus... #sun7pic.twitter.com/kfwD9KL4Ic
