Karl Stefanovic: 'Go your hardest on me but leave women alone.'

Veteran television presenter Karl Stefanovic has delivered a heartfelt tirade against a major Australian publication after a misleading story published on Thursday evening has left his co-worker in tears.

“If you have any care whatever for the women of Australia do not slur the representation of others to throw your mud at me,” the Today co-host said angrily on Friday morning calling out the Daily Mail.

"This website specialises in shaming women, for what they wear, for how much they weigh, for how much weight they have lost, for going to the beach. It has a despicable track record for denigrating women for who they are, for choices they make and for denigrating women full stop," the 42-year-old continued before pointing out the publication's track record against his co-workers.

"The Daily Mail has a long, despicable track record of denigrating women, of ridiculing women and objectifying women. This is the same site that tried to suggest that Lisa and Sylvia couldn't work together, presumably because they are both women. The same site that tried to same Sunrise host Samantha Armytage for wearing so-called granny pants."

Listen: Today co-host Lisa Wilkinson discusses what it's like to work with Karl Stefanovic. Post continues... 

Stefanovic launched his attack after a story was published on the Daily Mail's website on Thursday evening which showed he and a female Channel 9 producer checking into a caravan park in regional Australia.

Paparazzi images showed Stefanovic carrying cans of pre-mixed rum in the park, with the headline noting that his girlfriend, Jasmine Yarbrough, was "nowhere to be seen."

According to Stefanovic, he and the producer shown in the images were working on a regional story about Australia's struggling prawn farmers for Channel 9, and the inference of the trip being an unprofessional one has left the producer "in tears because of the hurtful and false way she has been portrayed by this website."

"There is interest in what we do and for the most part, we suck it up," Stefanovic said. "What I can't abide is lies about others."

"The real hurt here is for my colleague, a young female colleague," the father-of-three said, adding, "The producer pictured on the website is a committed, talented, hardworking and totally professional young woman and not deserving of this cheap, lazy, sexist online slur."

"A young woman who spent the past hours in tears because of the hurtful and false way she has been portrayed by this website."

Stefanovic said that the inference that a man and a woman could not possibly work professionally together without things becoming sexual was a trope that "surely belongs to the 1950s".

Finally, Stefanovic said before recommending those who feel similarly stop visiting the website said, "If you have any care whatever for the women of Australia do not slur the representation of others to throw your mud at me."

"I am over it... I hope Australia is over it as well."

Since discussing the issue on-air, The Daily Mail has updated the headline of its original article to remove mention of Stefanovic's girlfriend and published a response post that calls the reads: "Today show host Karl Stefanovic melts down over pictures of himself checking into a humble caravan park with 12 cans of Bundy rum."

Watch Karl Stefanovic's full speech on the matter below. 

What do you think about Karl's statement? Let us know in the comments section below.