
“Alex and Nine agreed that he would finish with the network”
Alex Cullen is gone frone Nine after accepting $50,000 from billionaire Adrian Portelli.
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under News
Alex Cullen is not returning to Today -or the Nine Network- after a controversial incident in which he accepted a $50,000 gift from billionaire Adrian Portelli.
There are reports he has been sacked by the network following an investigation.
At 6:39am this morning Karl Stefanovic told viewers, “As most of you are well aware, our colleague Alex Cullen has not been on air with us this past week.
“There has been widespread reporting on the circumstances surrounding this, what I can say is that last night, Alex and Nine agreed that he would finish with the network.
“Alex has, of course, been part of the Today family for five years now, he’s always ready with a smile and a laugh and without hesitation speaking for all of us here, we can say that we are going to miss him terribly, that’s for sure.
“Alex is a terrific fella, what you see is what you get and he has been a great mate to all of us over these years and we wish Alex, his wife Bonnie and his beautiful kids all the very best for the future.”
Cullen is understood to have breached network policy:
• Broadcast journalists and on air talent are required to adhere to a number of policies and procedures with respect to third-party commercial arrangements. Nine conducts regular training regarding these policies and procedures, however we will be using this opportunity to remind our team members of their obligations.
A Nine spokesperson has confirmed, “Nine has agreed with Today presenter and journalist, Alex Cullen, that he will finish with the network following a review into a recent incident.”
Portelli pledged to give $50,000 to the first person who called him “McLaren Man” on air, which Cullen did last Friday, joined by Stefanovic who joked about splitting the money. However the billionaire soon posted a screenshot of what appeared to be a bank transfer to an account with Cullen’s name.
Portelli this week also drew headlines for coaxing his followers to leave comments on the social media of Herald Sun journalist Fiona Byrne which she has since described as “thousands of vile, demeaning, offensive, misleading, insulting, factually incorrect and just plain stupid and ridiculous comments.”
Portelli has since donated the $50,000 to two charities.
20 Responses
Alex would be a great refresh for the project…
Guess only the network is allowed to cash-in with the commercial tie-ins and not their comperes?
Branded mugs, stories on supermarket sales, product taste tests, Qantas launch flights, weather report tie-ins etc all fine & dandy, but dropping a new nickname is a bridge too far?
It is if you’re paid to do it, but not by your employer.
way tv’s worked up til now…advertisers pay the neworks..networks pay their employees and try to make a profit.i’m amazed at the reaction of some that this is all overblown,..a lot to do about a harmless comment…forgetting the paid part.seems they’d be ok with reporters and broadcasters just freelancing.i can envisage conversations like..to “blah blah blah restaurant”..”hey in a banter with so and so after i do the weather..i could say what a great fish platter you guys serve…only want $400 for doing it too…cheap advertising for you and no one will know”…it’s insane the path this could take..9 was 100% right to terminate the guy.david..you want to comment on this..isn’t this a very serious matter…albeit fed by utter stupidity on cullen and portelli’s part?to me it strikes at the very core of how tv works.
How ridiculous
For starters any gifts you receive have to be recorded on a register and approved by management. Secondly, it goes against broadcast standards for a journalist.
A silly mistake / brain fart from Alex Cullen that wasn’t worth it.
Starting the Blunder of the Year list….
Given that Alex Cullen has exited Nine, someone will need to replace him to do some sports updates on today show. I know that it’s hard to predict but I am probably leaning towards Roz Kelly.
I wouldn’t be overly surprised if once this current furore dies down, we see Alex Cullen quietly resurface on Seven as others have before him following stints at Nine. The media industry tends to have a short memory, while others have seen their careers survive and even thrive (Hello, Kyle & Jackie O!) after considerably worse scandals.
As for who’ll take over the Sports presenting position on Today, do they even need a separate presenter for that anymore? I’m sure Jayne Azzopardi could do an adequate enough job of presenting both the news and sports headlines!
Everyone makes mistake and deserves a second chance. This seems like overkill, though Alex only has himself to blame for being so stupid.
I am sure Nine will find someone to read the news and laugh at Karls humour.. Really is atoshishing that this could happen and so in the open with Karl joking about splitting the money. Not saying that would have happened but both men know the rules. Today show needs to be replaced.
Seem to be double standards at nine, Alex loses he job, however Tony Jones seems to have kept his job over the djokovic saga
Are you serious? TJ getting the sack for some banter. If that is your standard for sacking there would be no one left on our screens.
This is what happens when they think they can do the Karl like antics and get away with it. I always thought he tried to be too smug and funny. Sad that he lost his job over it though.
9 didn’t really have much of a choice here. What kind of message would it send if such clear and public conduct breaches went without serious punishment.
Many corporations and govt organisations need to be sensitive about accepting a coffee from a client or stakeholder over concerns of a perceived conflict. $50,000 in a clear quid pro quo is egregious.
Whilst Alex is a good presenter, I think that this might be the right call. Nine is in the middle of changing its culture, and letting this slide would be a regression in that improvement journey.
Interested to see who might be filling the position? Any guesses?
He is a great loss to Today. Good luck for the future Alex.
I don’t think he deserved to be sacked. He gave the money to charity and apologised. Surely this and an official warning is enough. I’m pretty sure he’ll never do anything like this again.
“He (Cullen) gave the money to charity”. Well, not quite. “Portelli has since donated the $50,000 to two charities”.
Portelli already transferred the money to Cullen, this is mentioned in the article. If Portelli has donated $50,000 to charity he is out of pocket $100,000. I read that as a Typo? Cullen did donate the money? @David