Parenting

“So not funny to show your kid!”: Fans divided after Karl Stefanovic shares “inappropriate” joke with his daughter Harper

Reactions were very mixed.
Loading the player...

Karl Stefanovic has been known to have a cheeky sense of humour while hosting the Today Show. And it’s clear that his larrikinism extends past work and into his family life.

Just yesterday, the presenter shared a joke with his young daughter Harper, which he posted on his Instagram in the form of a video.

Holding a wine opener in the shape of a shirtless man, with the cork screw where his genitalia should be, Karl turned to show his daughter the product, saying: “Hey Harper… who’s that?”

“Daddy!” his daughter enthusiastically replied, earning a few chuckles from dad.

Karl chuckled at Harper’s reaction to the bottle opener.

(Image: Instagram)

Some fans were equally amused by the reaction, sharing plenty of laughing emojis in the comments below.

“Credits for best present ever x,” Karl’s other daughter Willow even wrote, who clearly gifted the gag gift to her father.

“That’s good content 😂,” his brother Peter added.

“Glad she didn’t say the pool man lol 😂,” a third quipped.

Karl shares Harper with his wife Jasmine.

(Image: Instagram)

But some fans took issue with the content, claiming it was inappropriate.

“It’s funny but not appropriate to present to your child or even show,” one user suggested. “It’s clearly a bottle opener, but looks rude, as the metal part between the legs, you know what it represents, so not funny to show your kid!”

The clip comes two weeks after Karl lashed out at Jetstar staff whom he claims made his daughter feel intimidated.

WATCH: Chrissie Swan and Karl Stefanovic present 2022 TV WEEK Logie for Most Popular Lifestyle Program. Article continues after video

Loading the player...

Karl said his daughter Willow was flying home from the Sunshine Coast with Jetstar when her luggage was weighed and found to be more than 500g over the limit. Staff then informed her that she needed to pay excess baggage fees.

However, Willow asked if she could remove an item from the luggage and put it into her handbag. The staff’s response was allegedly very rude and abrupt.

“She asked if she can put it in her handbag and they said ‘if you want to throw your handbag out’,” Karl said during the Today Show.

“It was so rude. It was so rude and it made my daughter, who’s only 17, feel completely intimidated.”

Karl criticised Jetstar after he claimed they made his daughter feel intimidated.

(Image: Instagram)

Like any father, Karl is very protective of his children and we can’t blame him after having a difficult year as his two-year-old daughter Harper has battled frequent health issues.

Karl confessed it had “been a terrible year” on Today and spoke to Dr Nick Coatsworth about his child’s problems, which were linked back to the COVID-19 induced lockdown.

“She got crook last week with influenza. She has an asthma kind of thing now. But it’s not asthma,” he said.

Harper was recently rushed to hospital due to a respiratory syncytial virus, which is common in children during the winter months. Karl revealed what started out with “a sniffle and a small cough” only worsened overnight to shortness of breath, “wheezing, and her heart rate and temperature were through the roof”.

Related stories