OPINION: I feel sorry for Karl Stefanovic

She’s not only had to endure the end of her marriage to the Today show co-host, to which she has three children, but also a year-and-a-half of intense media speculation about everything from his engagement to a rumoured vasectomy reversal.

Seriously. The subject of his genitals has been covered in detail in some sections of the press.

I feel really sorry for Karl, for being in a difficult and complicated situation and having to watch his family subjected to intense scrutiny and upset.

He’s been accused of insensitivity for “parading” his new relationship all over town when in reality a lot of those salacious pictures were taken with telescopic lenses.

I feel really sorry for his new partner Jasmine Yarbrough, for the relentless judgment and innuendo, the relentless paparazzi and the scuttlebutt.

And I feel really sorry for those ruthless commentators who’ve devoted significant attention to this saga, seemingly having never been in love themselves.

If they had, they’d appreciate that often times, affairs of the heart are messy and complicated.

They’re rarely black and white matters, where decision-making is simple and the consequences without major impact. A lot of the time its kind of like trying to parallel park a Volkswagen in a swimming pool full of jelly.

And sometimes, even when you get what they want in the pursuit of love, no one really wins and someone is left very hurt.

In mid-2016, Karl made a decision that had a profound impact on his personal and professional lives and most of those people around him.

Could he have better-handled elements of it? Sure. Is he a monster? I doubt it.

It’s time to cut him a little bit of slack and dial down the self-righteous damnation a bit.

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