{"id":519936,"date":"2026-03-05T08:46:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T08:46:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/519936\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T08:46:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T08:46:15","slug":"kyle-sandilands-and-arn-may-face-ugly-legal-stoush-after-jackie-o-departure-from-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/519936\/","title":{"rendered":"Kyle Sandilands and ARN may face ugly legal stoush after Jackie O departure from show"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Kyle Sandilands is preparing to sue his employer, ARN, if the company sacks the controversial broadcaster, according to multiple sources inside the company.<\/p>\n

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, because they are not authorised to comment publicly, the sources said Sandilands \u201cwill not take this lying down\u201d, and that his lawyers have advised him he has a strong case against ARN, which owns the national KIIS FM network.<\/p>\n

\"KyleKyle Sandilands outside his home in Sydney on Thursday. Nine News<\/p>\n

Sandilands is currently serving a 14-day suspension<\/a> imposed by ARN after an on-air fight with Jackie \u201cO\u201d Henderson resulted in her informing the company she could no longer work with her co-host of 27 years.<\/p>\n

One person familiar with the situation said that while Sandilands was deemed to have breached his agreement with the company, \u201cthe issue is not the words that were said\u201d. (On February 20, during a segment about astrology, Sandilands questioned his co-host\u2019s work ethic and accused her of being \u201coff with the fairies\u201d.) \u201cThe issue is actually the consequence of those words \u2013 because Jackie can\u2019t work with him, they can\u2019t deliver the Kyle & Jackie O show, which means their contracts can\u2019t be executed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Jackie<\/a><\/p>\n

But one ARN insider believes Sandilands is on solid legal ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cKyle will definitely sue,\u201d the employee said. \u201cThe agreement with ARN acknowledges the type of performer Kyle is: that he\u2019s robust and a maverick-type character, and that\u2019s something ARN has traded on for many years and gotten a lot of success out of.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKyle\u2019s lawyers are also relying on the agreement he has with ARN that makes numerous mentions of his broadcasting style \u2013 and it also makes it very clear that anything that goes to air is ARN\u2019s responsibility because they\u2019ve got two full-time censors [operating on] a 30-second delay, so they\u2019re OK-ing every piece of content that goes to air.\u201d<\/p>\n

Media and entertainment law expert Shaun Miller, principal of Shaun Miller Lawyers, agreed that Sandilands may have a case against ARN.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe could argue that there\u2019s a precedent that such behaviour isn\u2019t a hanging offence,\u201d Miller said. \u201cThe precedent has been set; the radio station actually encourages him to be controversial because it\u2019s part of his brand value.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another lawyer with radio expertise, who asked not to be named because of their association with the industry, said: \u201cThe fact that Kyle has said worse things in the past could actually be a defence; if a pattern of behaviour is both tolerated and rewarded, it can be difficult to argue against it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SandilandsSandilands and Henderson in happier days.Facebook<\/p>\n

Media and entertainment specialist Marco Angele, a principal at Marshalls+Dent+Wilmoth Lawyers, noted that while ARN had given Sandilands 14 days to remedy his breach, \u201cit may not actually be a breach capable of being remedied \u2026 it will depend on what they\u2019re requesting to be fixed and if it can\u2019t be remedied, [ARN] may be well within their rights to terminate.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response, one ARN worker said: \u201cThis is part of what Kyle\u2019s lawyers have an issue with. They\u2019ve suspended him, so he can\u2019t address anything on air. They\u2019ve told him not to contact Jackie or anyone at ARN, or to make any statements to the press. [Effectively] his lawyers are arguing, \u2018Well, you actually haven\u2019t given him an opportunity to remedy this situation at all.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Kyle<\/a><\/p>\n

But Miller cautioned that Sandilands\u2019 contract, which he has not seen, may contain clauses that prove difficult for the presenter to dispute.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust because the network had cause to suspend him previously and didn\u2019t, it doesn\u2019t mean they don\u2019t have cause to suspend him now,\u201d Miller said. \u201cThe network might be saying, \u2018Well, we\u2019re exercising our right to suspend him on this occasion\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

ARN\u2019s insiders maintain that the company genuinely wants Henderson to return to the KIIS network, and they believe it is more likely she will negotiate a new contract \u2013 or simply walk away \u2013 rather than sue.<\/p>\n

Miller said that a confidential settlement may be preferable to a public court battle, pointing to a quote from Abraham Lincoln<\/a>: \u201cDiscourage litigation. Persuade your neighbours to compromise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often a real loser \u2013 in fees, expenses, and waste of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

ARN chief executive Michael Stephenson, chair Hamish McLennan, Sandilands, Henderson and her manager, Gemma O\u2019Neill, have all been contacted for comment.<\/p>\n

Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"MichaelMichael Lallo<\/a> is a senior culture writer at The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":519937,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[64,63,134,136],"class_list":["post-519936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=519936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/519937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}