Channel Nine has told staff that Today co-host Karl Stefanovic has been axed “effective immediately” after his disastrous podcast with British racist Tommy Robinson.

Nine newspapers reports on Friday that an email informed staff it was “the right time for Karl to move on from the Today show and Nine”.

“Karl has been a fixture on our screens for over two decades, so we know this is a significant change for our viewers and all of us here at Nine, however it’s the right time to make it,” said the email from Nine chief executive Matt Stanton.

Today co-host Sarah Abo shared the news with viewers while fighting back tears.

“Look, we know there has been a lot of speculation about Karl’s future with the show,” Abo told the audience on Friday morning.

“This morning, we want to inform you that Karl will not be returning to the Today show, or to Nine.”

Abo said there had been mixed reactions to the scandal surrounding her co-host of three years.

“We’ve spoken to a lot of people over the past few days, have varying emotions,” she said.

“They’re upset, they’re sad this is all happening, and we all wish it wasn’t ending like this and that we could say goodbye to Karl our friend in a different way.”

Nine Newspapers said the terms of Stefanovic’s departure were finalised early Friday morning.

It was unclear whether Nine would pay out the estimated $1 million balance of Stefanovic’s contract.

In another email, Nine director of news and current affairs Fiona Dear told staff journalists had an obligation to ask difficult questions.

“Part of what makes us tick is trying to understand why people are the way they are, or think the way they think,” she said.

“We welcome open debate and challenging norms with constructive, balanced arguments.

“As journalists, we play a critical role in society to question, challenge, and hold people to account regardless of where they come from or which political party or views they represent.”

Stefanovic has been criticised for failing to challenge Robinson during the near hour-long interview, which was released on Tuesday and deleted by Wednesday morning.

During the episode, Stefanovic praises the far-right activist’s tenacity and courage for “trying to stand up for what you believe is right”.

The podcast is run independently of Nine and ARN.

Stefanovic also cancelled a scheduled appearance on his new radio show, The Long Weekend, as a backlash mounts over his podcast interview with the far-right UK activist Tommy Robinson.

Co-host Eddie McGuire will be steering the ship solo for Friday’s episode.

It is understood Stefanovic backed out of Friday’s broadcast of his own accord and his future with the company is not in question.

The weekly news, sport and entertainment show was launched in June on radio giant ARN’s Gold station and set to stream on Nine platforms.

But ARN will seek assurances from Stefanovic’s management about plans for his independent podcast, The Karl Stefanovic Show, following a recent interview with UK anti-Islam figure Tommy Robinson.

Focus shifted to ARN after Nine reportedly decided to cut ties with Stefanovic.

ARN has also put itself at arm’s length, telling AAP its association with Stefanovic is limited to specific radio engagements.

“His external media activities, including his podcast, are undertaken in a personal capacity and are entirely separate from the network, which we have no control over,” it said.

“They do not represent ARN’s views, editorial standards or programming.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also weighed in on the matter, suggesting Stefanovic had moved further and further out on the edges of what is mainstream political debate in this country.

“I think that that can have an impact (on social cohesion),” he told an event in Canberra.

The Karl Stefanovic Show episode went live on Tuesday evening and was scrubbed across multiple platforms by Wednesday morning.

It is unclear why Stefanovic’s interview with Robinson was taken down or who made the call.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson reposted video of the episode on her YouTube channel on Wednesday, claiming Nine was trying to sack her good friend.

The interview sparked a rebuke from activist group Mad F***ing Witches, a grassroots group that has previously drained advertising revenue from ARN over its employment of shock jock Kyle Sandilands.

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, co-founded the now-defunct anti-Islam English Defence League movement.

He has twice cancelled speaking tours of Australia after being denied a visa and has multiple criminal convictions.

Nationals leader Matt Canavan also rushed to Stefanovic’s defence once news broke he was expected to depart Nine.

“Australian journalists should not lose their jobs for talking to someone,” he wrote on X.

In a video teasing the episode online, Stefanovic puts his arm around Robinson.

“I really do admire your tenacity and the courage that you’re showing in trying to stand up for what you believe is right,” he said during the interview.

Stefanovic, who has co-hosted Today on and off for more than two decades, has not responded to requests for comment.

-with AAP