NEED TO KNOW
- The ARN has confirmed that it has terminated Kyle Sandilands’ contract.
- Kyle has issued a scathing statement on March 18 and confirmed that he planned to take legal action.
- He and Jackie O Henderson signed their lucrative 10-year contract worth $200 million in 2023, which was meant to finish in 2034.
- The Kyle & Jackie O Show was pulled from the airwaves on March 3, after Jackie O’s prolonged absence following an on-air incident on February 20.
Kyle Sandilands has broken his silence and come out swinging after the ARN announced that his $100 million contract was terminated.
The network confirmed the update about his 10-year contract on March 18, one day after his two-week suspension ended.
The show was officially pulled off the airwaves on March 3, when the network confirmed that Jackie O Henderson refused to continue working with him.
“ARN has just announced that they’ve terminated my contract. I don’t accept it,” he began in a lengthy statement circulated to the media.
The former radio duo signed their lucrative $200 million contract in November 2023, which was meant to finish in 2034.
“My lawyers told them last week this would be invalid. And guess what? It is,” he continued.
“Let me tell you what actually 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. And ARN took the situation and decided to try and burn the place down. 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!’”
He then explained that he did apologise to Jackie for their on-air bust-up on February 20.
“I said sorry to Jackie the night of our blow-up. And when I said I was sorry to Jackie, I meant it,” he continued.
“I still mean it. But it doesn’t mean I will stand by while I am separated from the people who’ve listened to me every morning for 25 years. Before they suspended me, ARN said, ‘Let us handle it,’ and I listened.
“In the two weeks since, I’ve done everything ARN asked. I said, put me back on air. I’ll work with Jackie. I’ll work with someone else. Whatever you need. Every single time – ‘no.’
“They weren’t interested. They didn’t want to fix this. They thought they saw a chance to get out of the contract they signed with me a year ago, and they ran with it.
“ARN knew exactly what they were getting when they signed my deal. They’ve worked with me for over a decade.”
“They knew how I work, they knew the show, and they were happy to pay for it — because I delivered number one ratings. Year after year. Hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for their business.”
“I held up my end. I always have.”
“So, you tell me — why would ARN prefer to breach a contract and pay the legal consequences rather than honour the contract and pay me to do what I do best? That’s the bit that doesn’t make sense.”
He also confirmed that he planned to take legal action.
“I’ve got a contract until 2034. I’ve got rights under that contract. And ARN hasn’t honoured the contract. So, it’s over to my lawyers,” he explained in the statement.
“To the people who tune in every morning — you lot are the reason I’ve done this for 25 years. You didn’t get a say in this. Neither did I. But my lawyers will.
“I’m not done. Not by a long way.”
