Karl Stefanovic went viral on TikTok last week for a fake news story about the arrest of former US president Barack Obama, leaving co-host Sarah Abo humiliated.
The Today funnyman, 49, was in hysterics over his prank while his colleague, 35, was left embarrassed for believing the American politician was really in custody.
Despite storming off the set with a playful smile live on television, an insider said the presenter was not as cheerful as she seemed, reported Woman’s Day on Monday.
‘She was rightly a little embarrassed after she reacted as if it was a real news story about the former US president, as have a bunch of Americans, who took offence after the video went viral on TikTok,’ the insider said.
‘Deep down, I think everyone involved agrees [Today] has become too slapstick, and the audience clearly aren’t loving the shenanigans, judging by the ratings.’
Karl Stefanovic, 49, (pictured) went viral on TikTok last week for a fake news story about the arrest of former US president Barack Obama
The Today funnyman was in hysterics over his prank while colleague Sarah Abo (pictured) was left embarrassed for believing the American politician was really in custody
The went on to say: ‘Whatever Today does next, they need to take a good, long, hard look before coming back in 2024, because in this business, there’s always plenty of talent waiting in the wings.’
Karl shocked American fans recently when he played a wild prank on Today breakfast show viewers.
The Nine star tricked fellow host Sarah by pretending he just received breaking news about the arrest of former U.S president Barack Obama.
A video of the stunt went viral on TikTok, with Americans getting caught up in the fake news segment as well – until the popular presenter broke down laughing.
The video kicked off with Karl looking somber as he informed viewers at home of ‘breaking news’ he just received ‘out of the United States’.
‘Former U.S. president Barack Obama – we’re just waiting to verify this – but we’re hearing that former U.S. President Barack Obama has been arrested,’ he said.
‘She was rightly a little embarrassed after she reacted as if it was a real news story about the former US president, as have a bunch of Americans, who took offence after the video went viral on TikTok ,’ an insider told Woman’s Day
He continued: ‘It may be on historic charges, related to when he was in the White House, so pretty significant.’
Shocked by the apparent news being fed to Karl via an earpiece, all co-anchor Sarah could say was: ‘Wow.’
However, Karl wasn’t able to keep the joke going for long as he quickly broke down laughing, revealing the whole story was actually a fake.
Sarah slapped his arm and promptly stormed off stage as the veteran breakfast show host was left in hysterics behind the desk.
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