Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs Nine sports presenter Alex Cullen has been stood down from his role after allegedly accepting a $50,000 cash prize from a high-profile businessman in exchange for re-branding him from “Lambo guy” to “McLaren Man” on air.Billionaire property investor Adrian Portelli gained notoriety as “the Lambo guy” in 2022 after arriving at a house auction for The Block in a yellow Lamborghini. He ended up splashing nearly $32 million on Block houses in 2022, 2023 and 2024, when he bought all five properties.Alex Cullen at an internal Nine event in 2023.Credit: Yianni PhotographyPortelli more recently complained that the nickname was disrespectful and last week offered $50,000 to “the first TV journalist who calls me McLaren Guy and NOT Lambo Guy”, posting a photograph on his social media page of a McLaren Senna GTR being hoisted by crane into his Melbourne penthouse.Cullen rose to the challenge on Friday morning during a cross from the Australian Open to Today’s Sydney studio, where he referred to Portelli by the preferred nickname. The reference led to a jovial exchange with Today host Karl Stefanovic, who repeated the moniker and suggested that they split the winnings.But Portelli gave the prize to Cullen, posting a receipt of the bank transfer to his Instagram page with the comment: “We have a winner! Well played sir.”Nine, the owner of this masthead, stood down Cullen on Saturday after the gift was reported by the Herald Sun.Nine said it took the matter “extremely seriously”.“Appropriate action has been promptly taken, including arranging for the funds to be returned,” a spokeswoman said.“While we review the circumstances in which this occurred, Alex has agreed to stand down.”
