Kyle Sandilands has demanded to be allowed back on air after insisting he did not breach his $100 million contract with radio company ARN but revealed he regrets berating his co-host Jackie “O” Henderson in a broadcast last month.
In a statement released on Tuesday by his manager and The Kyle and Jackie O Show’s producer Bruno Bouchet, Sandilands claimed ARN did not run a “genuine process” before it moved last week to terminate Henderson’s contract and suspend him for a fortnight.
“I am not going to pretend that everything about this situation is simple. Jackie told me she was hurt, and I accept that. But we have had disagreements before and we have always worked through them,” Sandilands said. After the broadcast, he said he had texted Henderson to apologise.
“That is what partners do. We never needed lawyers or ASX announcements to sort things out. I believe we could have sorted this out too, if ARN had given us the chance.
“The truth is that ARN terminated Jackie’s contract on the same day it accused me of a breach. It suspended me from work. All of this happened while I was being told to sit quietly and say nothing. That is not a genuine process.”
Sandilands had berated Henderson to the point of tears on the February 20 edition of their show on FM station KIIS, claiming she had become consistently distracted by astrology. ARN said Henderson had told the company she could no longer work with her broadcasting partner of 27 years, causing the network to terminate her contract. It also suspended Sandilands and said it would tear up his pay deal too if he could not remedy what it termed “serious misconduct”.
On Tuesday Sandilands insisted he had not breached his contract and intends to continue presenting breakfast radio as he has done his “entire adult life”.
“I am asking ARN to do the right thing: honour our agreement and let me get back to doing what I do best — entertaining the people who have supported this show for more than two decades.
“To my listeners: Thank you. I miss you. I’ll be back.”
Addressing the events of February 20, when Sandilands accused his co-host of being “off with the fairies”, the controversial broadcaster stood by the thrust of his words, saying it was something that “had been bothering me for a while”, but admitted he should have conveyed his feelings differently.
“That same evening, I sent Jackie a message telling her I was sorry for anything I said that didn’t go down well, that I love her and care for her, and that I could have handled it better,” Sandilands said. “I meant every word of that, and I still do.”
He said the idea their partnership could end in this manner was “devastating”. Sandilands has engaged top employment law firm Johnson Winter Slattery to deal with ARN’s accusations.
Sandilands added that he has been barred from contacting Henderson or any of his colleagues by the company, which is being advised by legal firm HSF Kramer’s Michael Gonski.
“I did what was asked even though it made it impossible for me to do the one thing anyone in my position would want to do — pick up the phone and talk to the person I have been talking with continually for my entire career,” Sandilands said.
Henderson, who has been offered a new show on undisclosed terms by ARN, said on Friday that she had not quit her job with Sandilands and was addressing the events through her lawyers. “The current media narrative does not reflect what actually occurred, and it has been truly heartbreaking to see how this has unfolded,” she said.
ARN has not commented publicly since it told the stockmarket last Tuesday of the Kyle & Jackie O Show’s demise but has not backed away from its statement.
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Calum Jaspan is a media writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based in Melbourne. Reach him securely on Signal @calumjaspan.10Connect via X or email.