'Karl should be ashamed': Viewers slam Stefanovic's 'hypocritical' Meghan Markle exposé

60 Minutes viewers have slammed host Karl Stefanovic, 45, following the program’s controversial ‘exposé’ on Meghan Markle that aired on Sunday night.

The beleaguered TV presenter has been branded a “hypocrite”, “trashy” and “smug” by outraged Twitter users for his involvement in the scathing take-down of the Duchess of Sussex.

One viewer went as far as to claim that the ousted Today star should be “ashamed” of himself.

Karl criticised for Meghan take-down

The program, which purported to reveal “what went wrong” for the “insufferable” royal, saw Karl interview a panel of Markle critics including a former friend of the 38-year-old, British TV presenter Lizzie Cundy, royal biographer Andrew Morton, and controversial commentator Katie Hopkins.

Along with attacking the duchess’ wardrobe, personality, ambition and generally suggesting that the new mum has “lost her sparkle,” the episode vilified her and her husband Prince Harry’s continued plea for privacy.

“The couple appear to want a little privacy. Too much to ask? You bet,” was Karl’s opening statement.

“The public feel cheated, the tabloids have turned and the blame game - much of it directed at Meghan - is fierce.”

The irony of Karl’s scrutiny of the royal couple’s desire for a private life was not lost on viewers, with one branding the contentious host a hypocrite.

Indeed, following his axing from breakfast TV and in the lead up to his extravagant three-day Mexican wedding to second wife, 35-year-old Jasmine Yarbrough, late last year, Karl publicly demanded privacy on a number of occasions.

In one incident, Karl unleashed an expletive-filled rant at a paparazzo at Gold Coast Airport who tried to take his photo - with the outburst caught on camera.

“Take your f**king camera and get out that f**king door, it's f**king Christmas,” he shouts in the video.

Elsewhere, viewers took issue with the outspoken journalist’s “smug” attitude, with another slamming him for “stooping to [a] trash tabloid story”.

60 Minutes slammed

A sneak-peek at the episode was shared in a tweet on Wednesday wherein Lizzie, who reportedly met the future duchess at a charity dinner back in 2013, tells Karl about her “manipulative” ex-pal who was open about her desire to snag a “celebrity boyfriend”.

Elsewhere, Katie - who proudly calls herself “the biggest b*tch in Britain” - slams the new mum as a “no one” who “wears bad clothes”.

Unsurprisingly, the clip stirred up controversy online, with viewers - and Meghan’s high-profile supporters including Mia Farrow and Jameela Jamil - taking to Twitter to condemn the program’s “character assassination” of the duchess.

Here is just a sample of the outrage against 60 Minutes:

“I have entered the text of this tweet into multiple search engines and every time it comes back as ' acist f***wits that can't fathom a British Princess could be mixed race’”.

“She hasn't lost her sparkle but it appears #60minutes has. Looks like you interviewed #nobodies to put together a non story.”

“Just say you hate her because she's black and have done with it.”

Mia tweeted, “Shame on you,” while Jameela called it “absolute bottom of the barrel”.

Harry claps back

60 Minutes’ scathing take on the duchess comes days after Prince Harry clapped back at those who criticised the family-of-three for using four private planes over the European summer.

While many saw the move as hypocritical considering both Harry and Meghan’s outspoken attitude towards climate change, the 34-year-old defended their choice of air travel as a means to keep his wife and child “safe”.

The couple’s celebrity friends including Sir Elton John - who last month supplied his own jet for travel to and from his luxury French villa - along with Ellen DeGeneres and Meghan’s close friend Jessica Mulroney all came out in support.

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