Peta Credlin Confronts Colleague Over 'Hijacking' Live TV Segment

Political commentator Peta Credlin publicly admonished her colleague Andrew Clennell on live television Tuesday night, accusing him of attempting to "hijack" her show. The confrontation occurred when Clennell, a political editor for News24, deviated from Credlin's planned segment to discuss an alleged insult he received from One Nation national director James Ashby.

The dispute began after Clennell criticized a "Please Explain" cartoon by One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, leading to Hanson canceling an appearance on Clennell's own program. Clennell subsequently stated on air that he had received a text message from Ashby suggesting Hanson deemed Clennell a "d***head."

During Credlin's program on Tuesday, Clennell, instead of answering a question posed by Credlin, read a prepared statement. He mentioned that viewers had inquired why Credlin had not supported him and thanked those who offered support for his journalism. "I'll repeat that Pauline Hanson is welcome on my show anytime and I believe sometime in the future she will come on my show," Clennell stated. "I've stood up to Prime Ministers and there's no way that I'm being stood over by James Ashby... If I don't talk about this people are gonna go 'Why isn't he talking about this?' You know?"

Credlin expressed immediate frustration with Clennell's actions, asserting her control over her show's content and order. "Andrew, the show's called Credlin, right? I will decide what we discuss on the show and the order in which we discuss it," she retorted. "I said to you last night and I said to you today, we would put it in the rundown. We've got a whole lot of issues that I want to talk about first - what's impacting real people in the parliament today."

Clennell remained seated with folded arms during Credlin's critique. Credlin acknowledged Clennell's feelings but objected to him initiating the discussion at the start of the program. "As I said to you last night it was at the back end of the show. If I didn't like you if I didn't respect you mate you wouldn't be on this show for nine years. I do respect you. I've got people in my ear, as you know, constantly. I didn't hear him (Ashby) and if I did I would have jumped in," she explained. "I call a spade a spade. I'm straight up and down. You're not gonna hijack my show at the top when I said I would get to this."

The on-air exchange drew immediate reactions from viewers on social media. Some expressed admiration for Credlin's assertiveness, while others questioned Clennell's behavior, with one viewer noting he had seemed "terse with people he interviews and even with his own colleagues."

Representatives for Ashby, Credlin, and Clennell have been contacted for comment. This incident follows reports of internal disagreements at News24 concerning Ben Roberts-Smith and a conservative split among supporters.