Alex Cullen has broken his silence after he was stood down by Channel Nine over accepting a $50,000 gift from The Block billionaire Adrian Portelli.
The Today presenter, 44, was gifted the sizeable sum after he was the first media personality to use Portelli’s self-given nickname ‘McLaren Man’ live on air.
Portelli has grown tired of his long-used nickname ‘Mr Lambo’ and offered the cash reward to the first person to use his new moniker on air, with Cullen obliging on the Today Show on Friday.
The ill-advised stunt led to Cullen being suspended by Nine and he has not appeared on air since while the network investigate the payment, which has now been donated to charity by Portelli.
On Tuesday, Cullen then broke his social media silence amid the huge controversy as he took to Instagram to share a birthday tribute post to his daughters.
Not referencing his absence from air, he simply shared an array of sweet pictures of his twin daughters Audrey and Evie celebrating their sixth birthday.
Alex Cullen has broken his silence after he was stood down by Channel Nine over accepting a $50,000 gift from The Block billionaire Adrian Portelli
Alex – who shares three children with his wife Bonnie – also shared pictures of his son Max, three, as he enjoyed some low-key family time on the special day.
In a caption, he gushed: ‘Happy birthday to my darling girls Audrey and Evie.’
While he didn’t mention the ongoing scandal, he was flooded with support from his followers, who took to the comments to share their hopes he will soon return to air.
One wrote: ‘Happy birthday not watching channel nine till your back,’ while another said: ‘Missing you! You are just the best! Wake up Channel 9.’
A third commented: ‘Gorgeous girls. Can’t believe they’re 6 already! Just heard about all the work drama. Hope it gets resolved quickly.’
While a fourth penned: ‘Boycotting 9 until you’re back!’ and another added: ‘Happy birthday young ladies – hoping to see you back home on 9 really soon.’
His Nine co-stars Karl Stefanovic and Belinda Russell also commented sweet birthday messages for his two daughters as they appeared to lend him their support.
Cullen has been notably absent from the Today Show after being stood down by Nine and he has been replaced by Ctint Stanaway in reporting live from Melbourne for the Australian Open.
Portelli has grown tired of his long-used nickname ‘Mr Lambo’ and offered the cash reward to the first person to use his new moniker on air, with Cullen obliging on the Today Show on Friday
The scandal kicked off when Portelli said he would pay $50,000 to the first media personality who used his desired new self-given nickname ‘McLaren Man’ on air as he hoped to ditch his unwanted nickname ‘Mr Lambo’.
After Cullen was the first to use the name live on the Today show on Friday, Portelli posted what appeared to be a bank transfer of $50,000 to the sports presenter.
Accepting cash, gifts or benefits to undermine journalistic independence, and improperly using a journalistic position for personal gain, are both breaches of the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance Journalist Code of Ethics.
Nine promptly suspended Cullen – who has not appeared on air since – and announced an investigation into the payment, which it said was being returned.
Portelli then claimed on Tuesday that Cullen intended the money to be paid to charity all along and posted details of two $25,000 payments each made on his behalf to the Salvation Army and the RSPCA.
‘Alex Cullen… on behalf of you, mate, $25,000 to the Salvation Army and $25,000 to the RSPCA,’ Portelli wrote on Instagram.
‘I’ve kept pretty quiet about what unfolded with Alex, but even before he’d heard from Ch9, we had a conversation where he expressed his desire to donate the money.
‘That speaks volumes about his character. Alex, you’re an absolute gentleman.
Alex was stood down by Nine over the stunt and hasn’t been on air, but broke his social media silence on Tuesday as he shared photographs from his twin daughter’s sixth birthday party
On Tuesday, Portelli also defended Cullen and claimed he intended the money to be paid to charity, posting details of two $25,000 payments made to the Salvation Army and the RSPCA
‘If Ch9 let you go (though I really hope they don’t!), I’d be more than happy to collaborate with you on something. True class, mate!’
Max Markson, who has been a leading PR agent for 50 years, said although it was ‘not normal’ behaviour for a presenter to accept cash to say something that was not part of their declared sponsorships, he believed Cullen had clearly been joking.
‘I am sure they didn’t think they were going to get the $50,000 but then they got it and unfortunately Alex has been stood down for the moment, which is crazy,’ he told Daily Mail Australia on Monday.
‘He shouldn’t have taken the $50,000 obviously, but he’s given it back. I don’t think that’s the reason they did it, they did it as a joke, obviously.’
However, Mr Markson did not think it would do Cullen’s TV career any lasting damage and predicted that he will be back on air within seven days.
Nine insiders also told Daily Mail Australia that the stunt could have been beneficial for the network and Portelli, if Cullen had advised the promoter that, as a journalist, he was unable to accept any payment for making the comment on-air.
Portelli first received the unwanted nickname ‘Mr Lambo’ after turning up to a 2022 auction of popular house makeover show The Block in a yellow Lamborghini.
