‘I can’t listen to you’: Karl Stefanovic abruptly ends interview with anti-masker
A furious Karl Stefanovic abruptly ended a live interview with the anti-masker who filmed her confrontation with staff at a Bunnings store.
Karl Stefanovic described anti-masker Lizzy’s beliefs as “weird” and “whacko” before cutting her off mid-interview.
Karl Stefanovic abruptly ended a live interview with the anti-masker who filmed her confrontation with staff at a Melbourne Bunnings, saying “I can’t even listen to you”.
But the move was controversial among viewers — some of whom asked why Today had even invited her on the program in the first place.
Lizzy Rose, the anti-masker who was universally slammed for harassing employees at a Bunnings Warehouse in Maribyrnong, was invited onto the Today show this morning to defend her stance.
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The woman said it was “about personal choice” and that her “health comes first”.
“I have an exemption from wearing a mask,” she said. “I noticed you mentioned in your clip that it was a heated argument at Bunnings. There was no heated argument at Bunnings at all. I was quite calm and within my rights to say what I said. I only started filming to protect myself because of what happened when I was surrounded by staff at Bunnings.”
Ms Rose – who has been slammed nationwide after footage of her berating Bunnings staff went viral – said she had “no intention to do anything on a Sunday other than go to my local store, get supplies and leave”.
“I calmly entered the store and nobody approached me. I went past three or four staff and nobody said or did anything before me. I was there for five minutes in the shovel aisle trying to work out what to buy before anything happened. I kept my documents with me in case anything happened.
“I have never been asked to produce any documents before where I have gone before in shops or supermarkets. But I wasn’t being antagonistic at all. I stated what Daniel Andrews instructed me to state on the Department of Health and Human Services websites.
“If I have a medical issue or a reason to be exempt I can simply state that, and that is enough.”
Lizzy Rose, the anti-masker who was universally slammed for harassing employees at a Bunnings store, claimed the virus statistics were not real. Picture: InstagramSource:Instagram
Asked whether she thinks wearing a mask is a breach of her human rights, she said: “I do. This is my voice. It is about an agenda. It is not only about a virus.”
Ms Rose went on to dispute the statistics around the virus, claiming the numbers “are not true” and that she believes the virus was “biochemically engineered intentionally”.
In a social media post on April 5, Ms Rose had told her followers to “stay home, stay safe” and wear masks.
“I urge everyone, the minute you step outside please wear a mask and gloves, don’t listen to the government saying that you don’t need to,” she said.
“Why do doctors and nurses wear personal protective equipment? Because the virus is invisible and contraction is airborne. We can all contract COVID-19. We could all be carriers of the coronavirus. We could also be immune to the virus. We could have already had the virus and recovered. We could currently have the virus and think it’s just a mild flu and therefore not seek testing.
“Don’t be fooled, the virus is real.”
Addressing that post this morning, she said: “It was a choice. This is my point. I did that to prove a point. It is about choice. If you want a mask that is up to you.”
Asked about the rate of people dying from COVID-19 in aged care homes, she said: “Is it COVID? How do you know it’s COVID? Why is it that everyone is dying in 2020 is labelled as a COVID death?”
Ms Rose admitted she was not a doctor or a scientist, but said she had been a “professional working psychic since nine years old”.
“You deliberately went into that place to antagonise workers who are literally just trying to do their bit for the country right now, and protect other people from passing on this killer virus,” said a clearly frustrated Stefanovic. “You have espoused all these weird, wacko beliefs and unfortunately there are people out there who will side with you, and that is just irresponsible in this current climate.
“I can’t listen to you anymore.”
Ms Rose tried to continue speaking, but the interview then abruptly ended.
In the original footage, a maskless Ms Rose toured the aisles of Bunnings with a trolley.
“I have a medical exemption for being here and shopping here. And yet, they’re threatening to call the police on me, and asked me to leave,” she told the camera.
She said it was “sad” that people were not “looking at the facts”, calling them “zombies” who are “not actually researching”.
She later got into an extended argument with a Bunnings staff member, and continued to film him despite his objections.
Bunnings’ chief operating officer, Deb Poole, acknowledged there had been “a couple of disappointing incidents” over the weekend, but staff had responded in a “fair and balanced” manner.
“The irresponsible behaviour by a few is incredibly disappointing and can increase the risk for our team and other customers,” Ms Poole said.
“This behaviour is unacceptable and we reserve the right to deny entry to our stores for customers who refuse to wear a mask and don’t have appropriate exemptions.
“Any customers who do not respect the hard work of our team will be denied entry and if needed will be referred to Victoria Police.
“We are grateful to the police for their support and to the vast majority of Victorians who, like us, are trying to do the right thing keeping everyone as safe as possible.”
Source: news.com.au
