Updated ,first published
Kyle Sandilands branded the man who is now chief executive of his radio network a “p—y” during a broadcast last year, saying he didn’t “give a shit” because he thought the executive would soon be out of a job. Instead, ARN chief executive Michael Stephenson sacked Sandilands last month.
The comments, alongside Sandilands’ threatening remarks against members of the Mad F—ing Witches activist group, and claims of systemic bullying against his co-host Jackie “O” Henderson, form part of ARN’s defence against his $85 million contract claim in the Federal Court.
Stephenson, a former Nine sales boss, joined ARN in late 2024 as its chief operating officer (COO). By June 2025, Sandilands was insulting him live on air, according to the documents.
“Because a lot of these p—ies, they show up, they think they’re in charge,” Sandilands said on June 30. “Oh, I’m the COO. Whatever that means … No one gives a rat’s ass, dog. And anyway, that bloke will be gone in eight months’ time anyway. Do you know how many COOs I’ve been through? Thousands.”
Sandilands went on to lambast Stephenson, saying he was from the “The C-suites … The [expletive] suite. Where do all the [expletives] work! … That’s why they’re called the C-suites.”
Stephenson, who became chief executive shortly after the comments were made, had employed a number of measures to rein in Sandilands, including adding more censors to the program after ARN was rebuked by the industry watchdog.
In March this year, ARN tore up Henderson’s contract after she allegedly refused to work with Sandilands because of his conduct towards her. It then scrapped his contract too, prompting both stars to sue the network separately for at least a combined $160 million.
On Tuesday, ARN filed its defence to the claims, which includes a letter Henderson’s lawyers sent the station in the wake of Sandilands’ on-air tirade against her on February 20 that broke their partnership. The lawyers said that Sandilands’ “consistent and ongoing bullying” of Henderson left her “psychologically unwell, defamed and humiliated”. ARN failed in its duty of care to protect her, the lawyers alleged, and as a result, she could no longer work with him.
In its defence to Sandilands’ claim that his contract was unfairly torn up, the network claims his conduct was so poor it had to dismiss him despite his contention that he was merely playing the controversial character expected of him. And ARN alleges that Henderson rebuffed its attempts to investigate Sandilands, despite her bullying complaints, so it could no longer employ her on her existing contract when she ultimately decided she could no longer work with her co-host of 25 years.
On September 10 last year, Sandilands is alleged to have said he had carried the show by himself for more than a year in remarks that were off-air but were filmed.
“Don’t f—ing bother coming back until you’ve got your f—ing shit together like a normal person,” Sandilands allegedly said, referring to Henderson. “I’ve been carrying the whole show for a f—ing year … I’m just left here with a limp d— in my hand.”
After Henderson complained, the documents state that ARN’s then-chief content officer Lauren Joyce wrote to her manager Gemma O’Neill asking for further details and stating “this is a serious matter, and Jackie’s wellbeing is our priority”. The next day, O’Neill wrote back saying that the company should already have all the information it needed.
Then in December, O’Neill told the company the issue was “resolved”. Additionally, the day after the February 20 episode, Henderson thanked Stephenson, ARN’s new chief executive, and content chief Kerrie Elstub for “checking in” on her.
ARN’s defence, and claims it had attempted to investigate bullying complaints, contrast with Henderson’s claim in the letter sent by her lawyers on February 26 that claimed the company had not taken the required action to act in compliance with its obligations to provide a safe place of work.
Media and entertainment lawyer Shaun Miller told this masthead it was unlikely ARN would be held responsible for not investigating a matter that, according to Henderson’s manager, had been resolved.
“The conclusion you would draw from Gemma saying that it’s resolved is that there’s nothing further to investigate,” Miller said.
ARN’s lawyers argue the February 20 incident was not isolated nor accidental, but part of “a persistent course of workplace bullying and harassment of Ms Henderson” that she “had complained” about.
After the Kyle and Jackie O show breached a number of industry codes in October last year, the court documents note ARN directed Sandilands to not discuss a range of topics during the show, including criticism of ARN executives or staff, any topic that included ongoing legal proceedings or was being considered by media regulator ACMA or ARN shareholder News Corp.
The following month, during a discussion on ACMA, and the Mad F—ing Witches activist group that had been targeting advertisers on the Kyle & Jackie O Show, Sandilands said he could “get nasty behind the scenes if I have to”.
“And I don’t want to. Well, I don’t want to be burning houses down and shit like that,” he said. He also said the activist group’s conduct should be “illegal” and he would address it with his lawyers and private investigators.
Representatives for Sandilands, Henderson and ARN were contacted for comment.
Both Sandilands and Henderson’s cases will be back in the Federal Court on Friday for procedural hearings.
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Calum Jaspan is a media writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based in Melbourne. Reach him securely on Signal @calumjaspan.10Connect via X or email.