Karl Stefanovic Slams Celebrity Video Appeal For Bali Nine

Earlier today, a video began circulating, showing various Australian celebrities, including the likes of Guy Pearce, Geoffrey Rush and Deborah Mailman, imploring Tony Abbott to do more to save Bali Nine death row convicts Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.

The video, presumably intended to go viral as a message of support for the lads and the ongoing mercy campaign, has ended up backfiring pretty conclusively, with many criticising the celebrities in question as out of touch with the true situation.
Brendan Cowell has come in for particular criticism, after he told Abbott to “get over to Indonesia and bring these two boys home, show some balls.” Others told the Prime Minister to “show some ticker” and “fly to Jakarta.”
Critics pointed out that the Australian government, love ’em or hate ’em, have done a good deal to secure freedom for Chan and Sukumaran, and that ultimately, responsibility for their deaths lies with Indonesia.
After playing the video on Today, Karl Stefanovic said that, while he agreed with some elements, he felt the video as a whole was misjudged. 
“There’s almost an aggressive connotation there that I think is completely and utterly wrong, that I think has missed the mark on every single level.” 
“I think there’s clearly an agenda there of some kind,” he continued, “and I just don’t think it’s worth acknowledging at this point.”
Stefanovic later spoke to Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, who said “clearly, if travelling to Indonesia would make a difference we would have gone there.”
“We take the very best advice from our people who are in Indonesia [and] are part of a very high-level, sustained campaign to seek a stay of execution,” she continued. “If there was any indication that being in Indonesia would help, of course we would be there.”
Brendan Cowell has since apologised, saying that if the celebrities involved came across as “desperate or ignorant”, they were in fact “just heart broken.” 
The original version video has now been taken down, but there are still versions of it floating around YouTube.

More Stuff From PEDESTRIAN.TV