Pressure is mounting on Sky News presenter Peter Stefanovic to publicly apologise and resign over a ‘train wreck’ interview where he shamed an Indigenous teenager who just won $1million in a fishing competition.
The backlash against Stefanovic has become so intense that he appears to have deleted all of his social media accounts – while a prominent lawyer has spoken out against him on social media.
Last Sunday Keegan Payne, 19, caught a 67cm barramundi in the Katherine River – with no idea it had a tag worth $1million in a Northern Territory fishing competition attached to it.
When Stefanovic interviewed Mr Payne on Wednesday, he started by asking him if he had once stolen an off-road vehicle and a quad bike from a former employer.
The teen paused and said ‘Yes’, but instead of the Sky News presenter being praised for his investigative journalism, he was slammed for bringing up something that happened when Mr Payne was 15.
Pressure is mounting on Sky News presenter Peter Stefanovic (pictured) to resign over his ‘train wreck’ interview where he shamed an Indigenous teenager
Keegan Payne had no idea he had caught a fish worth $1million (pictured) in a prize that had never previously been won during nine seasons of the Northern Territory competition
READ MORE: Peter Stefanovic forced to apologise to teen after viewers called him out over ‘harsh’ question during TV interview
Keegan Payne (pictured centre) gets emotional after catching a million dollar fish
‘So, what happened?’ Stefanovic pressed.
Mr Payne, who looked genuinely remorseful, told Stefanovic that he and his friend ‘weren’t thinking at the time’ and he regretted his actions ‘big time’.
Daily Mail subsequently revealed the teen was back in touch with his old boss, Bob Cavanagh from Cav’s Mowing, and offered to pay him back for the stolen vehicles.
‘Out of the blue this morning, his father rang me and said, “Keegan wants to repay you,” and you could have knocked me down with a feather,’ Mr Cavanagh said.
‘He said Keegan has always felt so terrible for what he did.’
Mr Cavanagh did not press police charges at the time, instead talking to the boys and their parents and having the boys work for free on weekends.
But the teenager having squared things with the businessman has not saved Stefanovic from being lambasted for how he treated the new millionaire on live TV.
Lawyer Jahan Kalantar – who regularly posts on legal issues to TikTok – said Stefanovic conducted a ‘train wreck of an interview’ and called him a ‘smarmy news presenter’ who asked Mr Payne about something he did as a child.
‘Can you imagine any other community where you would bring up something that a child has done – which by the way is unlawful,’ Mr Kalantar said in a video.
‘It’s completely inappropriate (to be asked) “do you feel sorry for this thing you did four years ago”, when you’ve been invited on to give an interview about the fact that you won a fishing competition.’
Mr Kalantar said the interview was ‘disgusting’ and that Stefanovic had a ‘smug little smirk on his face’ as he asked the question.
He said the Sky presenter should ‘mind your manners’ and that what he did was ’embarrassing’.
Yvonne Weldon, an Indigenous Sydney city councillor, said she was appalled by the interview.
‘They invited him on to talk about his prize catch and then proceeded to put him on the stand for an adolescent misdemeanour,’ she wrote on LinkedIn post.
‘In doing so, they’ve shown no regard for his wellbeing and right to privacy.
‘Moreover, they have perpetuated a harmful and negative stereotype about Aboriginal young people.’
Lawyer Jahan Kalantar (pictured) said Stefanovic conducted a ‘train wreck of an interview’
On Friday afternoon Sky News took the video of the interview down and issued an apology to Mr Payne.
‘Sky News and Peter Stefanovic apologise to Mr Payne and his family for raising these claims during the live interview about his million dollar win in the fishing competition,’ the statement said.
‘Mr Stefanovic has reached out to Mr Payne and his family directly to convey his apology.’
Mr Payne is the first person to win the biggest prize in the Northern Territory’s annual Million Dollar Fish competition, which is in its ninth season.
He said the win is life-changing for his family, which suffered the tragic death of one of his brothers in a crash four years ago.
‘This is crazy for us, we’re a big family, there’s eight of us, this is more money than we could ever ask for. This is just great,’ he said.
The teenager said while his family was shocked, ‘they’re all proud of me.
‘It’s pretty hard going for us at the moment with money, but now with a million dollars, don’t have to complain about it.’
He added that ‘I can buy what I want, maybe help dad and mum out with the home loans,’ and said the family can now afford to take a holiday and is planning a trip to America.
Mr Payne also intends to buy a new boat and a car.
Keegan Payne (pictured) thought the 67-centimetre barramundi he reeled in from the Katherine River on Sunday would make a nice meal for his family
Mr Payne said his family (pictured) can now afford to take a holiday and is planning a trip to America
The very humble teenager was a grateful recipient of the massive prize.
When asked what was the best thing about fishing in the Northern Territory, he answered: ‘You can catch a million dollar barra.’
The Cancer Council also got a cheque for $10,000 thanks to Mr Payne choosing it as his charity of choice.
As for Stefanovic, by Saturday afternoon a petition demanding that he make a public apology to Mr Payne and resign, already had almost 2,000 signatures.