March 23, 2026 — 5:00am
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Melbourne might be on the nose with some locals, but internationally lauded performer Harry Connick Jr, a three-time Grammy-winning singer, writer and producer, has quietly put down roots in town.
Word has reached CBD HQ that the It Had To Be You hitmaker is regularly spotted in Collingwood and spends up to six months a year visiting Melbourne, shuttling back and forth from America and his international touring commitments.
Grammy-winning US singer, writer and producer Harry Connick Jr (right) with Chris Andrews, CEO of La Trobe Financial, on Friday at the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival’s Longest Lunch. Kristoffer Paulsen
A shout-out to Melbourne’s most passionate Magpies supporter, Eddie McGuire – have you signed him up as a Collingwood footy club member yet?
Connick Jr, known for songs such as A Wink and A Smile, Whisper Your Name and Recipe For Love, has never hidden his love of Australia and it seems the decision by his three adult daughters, Charlotte, Georgia and Kate, to move Down Under several years ago has made the country, particularly Melbourne, a priority for him.
Kate Connick, who is studying acting in Melbourne, even had a role in Neighbours. Connick Jr and his wife, former Victoria’s Secret model Jill Goodacre, were among the 1600 guests including Governor of Victoria Margaret Gardner; Lord Mayor Nick Reece; Minister for Tourism and Major Events Steve Dimopoulos; catering king Bruce Keebaugh and his wife, Chyka; PR whiz Tara Bishop; La Trobe Financial chief executive Chris Andrews; Tourism Australia managing director Robin Mack; and Tourism Victoria chair Andy Penn and his wife Kallie Blauhorn, at the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival’s Longest Lunch in Kings Domain on Friday. The couple were guests of Visit Victoria.
Connick with daughters Charlotte, Georgia and Kate and wife Jill at the Australian Open in January 2025.
Connick Jr is very much an aficionado of our major events and, of course, our coffee.
He was spotted at one of the runway shows at the Melbourne Fashion Festival in February and he and Goodacre took in the tennis at the Australian Open in January.
The couple saw in the new year at the restaurant Maison Batard in the CBD with their daughters.
On top of that, he performed at the Myer Music Bowl during the Melbourne Jazz Festival. Chalk him up as our newest ‘Melebrity’.
Connick Jr has appeared in CBD previously. Back in August 2024, this column noted the singer had met then treasurer Tim Pallas to discuss a proposed music hub along with representatives of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
Harry, if you are reading, drop me a note at fiona.byrne@nine.com.au!
Kyle and Jackie ‘O’ stand-off leaves millions of shares in the balance
One of the quirks of the blockbuster $200 million contract offered to Kyle Sandilands and Jackie “O” Henderson in 2023 was the issuance of about 6 million shares in their employer ARN Media to the pair in place of bonuses.
The idea, at least according to ARN, was to try to get them thinking more about what’s good for the company, rather than just the ratings. But right now, it looks like the “revenue share” idea hasn’t been quite the incentive that ARN Media chairman Hamish McLennan might have hoped.
Kyle Sandilands and Jackie “O” Henderson.Facebook
“ARN Media’s unique compensation package will incentivise [Sandilands and Henderson] to focus not just on ratings but also to drive commercial success,” McLennan said in a statement when the arrangement was announced in late 2023.
Unique is one word for it. The company’s share price is circling the drain at just 33¢ each. The stock is down 54 per cent from where it was when the contract took effect in January last year, leaving ARN with a market capitalisation of a little over $100 million, shaving millions in value off Sandilands’ and Henderson’s combined stake in the process.
Now that ARN has terminated the duo’s contracts, CBD hears the company is expected to try to claw back their shares in the throes of whatever legal action is launched in response.
Sandilands’ and Henderson’s recently terminated contracts took effect in January last year. At the time, their combined shares were worth about $4.38 million, when the company was trading at 73¢. By market close on Friday, the shares had taken a $2.4 million haircut, and are currently worth just $1.98 million.
In the grand scheme of things, it’s not a massive amount of money. But the particulars of the duo’s deal have been the subject of a groundswell of media industry chatter, after Sandilands indicated in a statement that his lawyers are preparing to launch legal action.
ARN and a representative for Henderson declined to comment. Sandilands’ camp was contacted for comment.
Clive Palmer fails to convince the High Court (again)
Serial litigant Clive Palmer has failed once again. Earlier this month, the billionaire’s bid to appeal a decision by the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia in his effort to sue the corporate regulator was knocked back by the High Court.
Clive Palmer addresses the media at a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra earlier this month.Alex Ellinghausen
“The proposed appeal raises no question of legal principle and has insufficient prospects of success to warrant a grant of special leave to appeal,” the High Court wrote in its disposition. “Special leave to appeal is refused with costs.”
We find ourselves here because Palmer launched legal action against the Australian Securities and Investments Commission that was ultimately dismissed by Federal Court judges Jonathan Beach, Katrina Banks-Smith and James Owens in October last year.
In that matter, Palmer and his resort Palmer Leisure Coolum Pty Ltd launched action against ASIC and the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions to challenge the regulator’s use of its statutory power in its efforts to pursue action against Palmer. ASIC declined to comment. Comment was sought from a representative of Palmer.
The action was only the latest in a series of bust-ups between Palmer and the corporate regulator. Of course, we don’t expect it to be the last.
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Fiona Byrne is the CBD columnist for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.
John Buckley is a CBD columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via email.From our partners