{"id":517870,"date":"2026-03-06T09:29:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T09:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/517870\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T09:29:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T09:29:12","slug":"henderson-disputes-radio-show-departure-seeks-legal-advice-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/517870\/","title":{"rendered":"Henderson disputes radio show departure, seeks legal advice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Updated March 6, 2026 \u2014 7:31pm,first published 5:16pm<\/p>\n

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Jackie \u201cO\u201d Henderson has engaged lawyers after KIIS FM\u2019s owners terminated her $10 million a year contract, declaring she did not resign from her radio show with Kyle Sandilands.<\/p>\n

Henderson said she wanted to make clear that she had not quit or resigned, in response to what she described as \u201cspeculation and misinformation\u201d about her departure this week.<\/p>\n

\"JackieJackie O breaks her silence.instagram<\/p>\n

Radio company ARN, which owns the KIIS network that was home to the Kyle & Jackie O Show, announced on Tuesday that Henderson had said she could not work with Sandilands. It said it had terminated her $100 million, 10-year contract as a result but it offered her a new show on undisclosed terms. ARN suspended Sandilands for two weeks and said it would tear up his contract too unless he could fix what it described as \u201cserious misconduct\u201d.<\/p>\n

Henderson said, in a statement via her manager Gemma O\u2019Neill: \u201cI am deeply saddened by the events of the past week and the possibility of the show ending. This has come as a shock to me, as it has to everyone else.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe current media narrative does not reflect what actually occurred, and it has been truly heartbreaking to see how this has unfolded. At this stage, I am unable to say anything further, as I am addressing this through the appropriate legal channels.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you to everyone who has sent kind messages of support during what has been an incredibly challenging time.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The pair signed a 10-year deal in 2023 worth $200 million. That deal began last year and was set to run until the end of 2034. But the terms of that contract, which have not been disclosed, require the pair to deliver The Kyle & Jackie O Show together, according to company sources.<\/p>\n

The break-up of Australia\u2019s most famous media personalities has dominated headlines all week, after the company\u2019s plans to expand the show into Melbourne yielded poor ratings and launches in Brisbane and Adelaide were put on ice.<\/p>\n

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

Henderson went off-air after Sandilands berated her during a live broadcast<\/a> on February 20, claiming she had become obsessed with horoscopes and that she had been distracted from work.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re off with the fairies, you are unfocused, you don\u2019t give a shit \u2026 everyone in this building has mentioned it to me,\u201d Sandilands told Henderson during the show as she fought back tears.<\/p>\n

ARN declined to comment on Henderson\u2019s statement.<\/p>\n

But several senior company sources, speaking anonymously due to the legal sensitivities surrounding the matter, said they were surprised by the content and wording of the statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all scratching our heads in here,\u201d said one KIIS insider. \u201cIf you\u2019re contracted to deliver the Kyle & Jackie O show, and you come to ARN and say, \u2018I can\u2019t work with Kyle\u2019, then you can\u2019t deliver on your contract. Why would she think she\u2019s still entitled to her $10 million a year?\u201c<\/p>\n

Another source said that while they had not personally seen Sandilands\u2019 or Henderson\u2019s contracts, \u201cARN would have to be mad not to include a clause in their agreements that states they are specifically contracted to deliver the Kyle & Jackie O show. And the fact is that ARN lured them over from SCA [their former employers, Southern Cross Austereo] as a duo.\u201c<\/p>\n

The source said that Sandilands\u2019 and Henderson\u2019s pay parity \u201cis further proof that they\u2019re contracted to deliver a specific product together, which is the Kyle & Jackie O show\u201d.<\/p>\n

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

This masthead has previously reported that sources familiar with the\u00a0Kyle & Jackie O\u00a0show expect Sandilands to sue over the fate of his contract<\/a>, which ARN is expected to terminate unless he can persuade Henderson to return to the show they broadcast together.<\/p>\n

Media and entertainment law expert Shaun Miller, principal of Shaun Miller Lawyers, said the situation would become clear once Henderson\u2019s legal claim was filed.<\/p>\n

While Miller has not seen the contracts between ARN and Henderson, he believes ARN could validly argue it was justified in terminating her agreement.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy saying she could no longer work with Kyle, she\u2019s effectively saying, \u2018I can no longer deliver upon my contract\u2019. That would be ARN\u2019s argument, and they\u2019ve got a point. By withdrawing her participation in the show, the premise of her engagement has concluded.<\/p>\n

\u201cI very much doubt there would have been a clause in the contract that said if Jackie O leaves the Kyle and Jackie O show, she\u2019s automatically entitled to another role at ARN \u2013 I can\u2019t imagine ARN boxing themselves into that situation. Now, ARN may very well want to engage Jackie in a new role, and Jackie may or may not want to accept that role, but that would have to be negotiated with the parties.\u201d <\/p>\n

While Miller said he was not privy to Henderson\u2019s legal strategy, \u201cit will be based on the claim that ARN has breached her employment contract… Jackie might feel she\u2019s been treated badly and unjustly, but that doesn\u2019t mean her contract has been breached or ARN have acted unlawfully.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf [Henderson and Sandilands] have been working together for 27 years, you could argue that their commercial value is worth more together than if they were engaged individually.\u201d
Miller said a confidentiality clause in Henderson\u2019s contract might restrict what she can reveal about the terms and conditions of her employment.<\/p>\n

Sandilands and Henderson have repeatedly faced controversies over offensive remarks and stunts but they have always bounced back.<\/p>\n

But their show, which is currently suspended, had come to be a financial issue for ARN because it had faltered in the Melbourne market and was being targeted by activists, diminishing its appeal for advertisers.<\/p>\n

The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"CalumCalum Jaspan<\/a> is a media writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based in Melbourne. Reach him securely on Signal @calumjaspan.10Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.\"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":"Updated March 6, 2026 \u2014 7:31pm,first published 5:16pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":517778,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,75,341],"class_list":["post-517870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517870\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/517778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}