Kyle Sandilands’ contract has been officially terminated by ARN, but Sandilands has hit back, saying in a statement he “did not accept” that it’s over.
The news was first broken by Sandilands this morning. He said that “my lawyers told them last week this [the termination] would be invalid. And guess what? It is.”
A short time later, ARN announced to the ASX that it had issued a notice to terminate the contract.
“As a result, the Kyle and Jackie O show will no longer be presented.”
The ARN statement also noted that the termination follows its March 3 announcement in which it “considered Mr Sandilands’ behaviour during the broadcast of February 20 to constitute serious misconduct and breach of ARN’s services agreement with Quasar Media (Sandilands’ company).
Two weeks ago, ARN announced that Henderson had given notice that she “cannot continue to work with Mr Kyle Sandilands.”
It signalled the beginning of the end of the pair’s massive $200 million 10-year deal, which wasn’t due to expire until 2034.
“Mr Sandilands was given 14 days to remedy the breach,” the statement continued.
Jackie O looks set to stay with the network and will be offered a different show.
Sandilands shared a statement through his manager this morning, offering his version of events from the past fortnight.
“Let me tell you what happened here. Jackie and I had a blue on air. That’s it. The kind of thing we’ve done a hundred times in 25 years.”
He claimed that ARN had decided to leverage the situation to “try and burn the place down.”
He said, “They sacked Jackie. They suspended me. They wouldn’t even let me pick up the phone to call her or anyone else on the show.
“Then – and this is the bit that gets me – once they’d made it impossible for the show to go on, they turn around and say, ‘You didn’t fix it. You’re fired!'”
Sandilands claims he apologised to Henderson on the night of the morning they argued.
He said that when he apologised, he “meant it. I still mean it. But that doesn’t mean I will stand by while I am separated from the people who’ve listened to me every morning for 25 years.”
Sandilands said ARN “Saw a chance to get out of a contract they signed with me a year ago, and they ran with it.”
The latest development follows the now infamous comments Sandilands made about his co-host Henderson back in February, declaring, among other things, that she was “off with the fairies” and that she “sounded like a drug addict”.
Sandilands finished his statement by declaring he is “not done” and that it’s now “over to my lawyers.”
The show and ARN have faced significant ratings and revenue pressures in recent time, with the show failing to garner the national audience expected of such a large deal for its co hosts. They have also faced continued pressure from social media activist group Mad Fucking Witches to keep records of what Sandilands is sharing on air, and to ensure that advertisers are aware of what’s being said during the show where their ads appear. The campaign has, over the years, successfully eaten into the advertising revenue of the radio shows that air the program. They’ve documented every advertiser who has walked.