As Jackie ‘O’ Henderson launches an $82.25 million legal war against radio network ARN, entertainment reporter Peter Ford has highlighted a “shocking” allegation at the heart of the collapse.
A note to shareholders shared via the ASX on Tuesday confirmed Jackie O had commenced legal proceedings against her former employer, alleging her termination from her KIIS FM radio show with Kyle Sandilands was against the Fair Work Act.
ARN said it disputed Henderson’s claims and will defend against the suit in court.
In part, the note said: “Ms Henderson sent a ‘Complaint Letter’ to CBC which noted that Ms Henderson ‘cannot continue to work with Mr Kyle Sandilands’ and made psychosocial health and safety and bullying complaints in relation to the conduct of Mr Kyle Sandilands on and prior to 20 February 2026.”
Speaking to nine.com.au, Ford said: “That to me is the big shock here – that she had made official complaints about him.”
The co-hosts fell out after an on-air argument on February 20, after which Henderson declared she was unable to work with Sandilands. It wasn’t clear that there had been any prior complaints.
Both of their contracts were ultimately torn up and The Kyle and Jackie O Show was cancelled.
Ford pointed out that Henderson’s legal claim referenced mental health as a result of Sandilands’ behaviour in the proceedings, suggesting “she was seriously hurt, yet they were allowing her to continue to work with him”.
“That is fascinating and scary in itself, that the radio network were allowing that,” Ford added.
“If she felt vulnerable, that should have been addressed immediately – either her being told to take time off with pay, or him being chastised.”
Ford said “someone very close to Kyle” was “adamant to me that at no point ever was Kyle chastised about his behaviour, and most certainly not in relation to his treatment of Jackie”.
“So that to me is the big thing,” Ford said.
Today’s announcement came after Henderson’s long-time colleague Sandilands launched his own lawsuit against ARN after his own contract was terminated.
Ford predicts Henderson will be more open to a settlement with ARN than Sandilands, who seems prepared for a long legal fight.
“My gut feeling is that Jackie might be open to a settlement. I don’t think she would be keen on the prospect of a long-term court fight,” he speculated.
“Kyle is a junkyard dog and likes a good fight and doesn’t shy away from it.
“My gut feeling is that Jackie is open to a decent payout fairly quickly as a way to get her off the books. She might be happy to walk away with $15 million.”
Ford said it appears from the legal proceedings that Henderson didn’t intend for her contract with ARN to end.
“Whether she expected to be redeployed to another shift or whether Kyle would be moved on and she would go solo… I mean, I don’t know that the answer to that,” he said.
“Clearly what she didn’t expect was to be terminated. And it’s a very bad look publicly for anybody to go and make a complaint about workplace behaviour and suddenly the person who makes the complaint gets fired. That doesn’t seem right.
“Certainly for 10 days after that Kyle was still working and still employed by them. So that delay in taking action against him, I think is very significant.”
Ford doesn’t feel Henderson’s legal proceedings against ARN will negatively impact Sandilands’ own legal action.
“Kyle’s not on trial. Kyle was fired specifically according to what they said to the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). He was fired specifically for what happened on February 20,” he added.
“They made no mention of any concerns about anything else leading up to it.
“So it’s almost like the case isn’t about who was a bully and who wasn’t. It was about whether contracts can be terminated illegally or not.
“What ARN are obviously going to rely on is that when they got her letter [from Henderson following February 20] that she wanted out. I guess in a way they may be arguing that they were doing her a favour by releasing it from the contract.”
Ford believes ARN felt they were on “solid ground legally” when they made the decision to end Henderson’s contract.
Jackie O’ Henderson’s career in photos
“You don’t roll the dice like this when the stakes are so high, when the share price is in jeopardy. So they must have believed that they are on safe ground to have done what they did,” he said.
“They desperately needed Kyle and Jackie O gone. They needed that financially. Now, of course, it may turn out they haven’t made any gains at all financially. And not only that, they don’t have any product to put to air from them either. So, you know, it’s a lose-lose situation.”
Details of the on-air blow-up that derailed Kyle and Jackie O’s $200 million deal
The on-air fight began after Jackie O read from Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s astrology birth chart and Sandilands complained about her interest in astrology charts.
“Your fixation on this has made you almost unworkable,” Sandilands told her.
“You are off with the fairies with this s—, it’s mental.”
He claimed her fixation on astrology charts made her sound like a “drug addict”.
Henderson has previously opened up on air about addiction issues that led to her going to rehabilitation in the US in 2022.
Henderson said Sandilands’ accusations were “so unfair” and that he was attacking her on air.
“I would never say things like that about you,” she said.
“It’s a total attack, it really is. Kyle, to say ‘you don’t know what the F is going on, you’re not doing your job,’ that’s an attack and I wouldn’t do that.”
Sandilands and Henderson have been in an on-air partnership for 27 years.
They moved to breakfast in 2005 and then to KIIS in 2014.
They have been under contract in a lucrative $200 million, 10-year deal that was set to run until December 2034.
Full statement from ARN Media regarding Jackie O’s lawsuit
ARN Media Limited [ASX: A1N] announces that Ms Jacqueline Henderson and her related company have commenced legal proceedings against ARN.
The proceedings have been filed in the Federal Court against Commonwealth Broadcasting Corporation Pty Ltd (CBC), a subsidiary of ARN which is the licence holder for KIIS 1065 Sydney and contracted with Ms Henderson and her services company. Unsealed copies of Court documents in respect of the proceedings were served on CBC on 30 March 2026 after market close.
In summary, the applicants claim that the termination of Ms Henderson’s contract constituted adverse action. Ms Henderson sent a ‘Complaint Letter’ to CBC which noted that Ms Henderson “cannot continue to work with Mr Kyle Sandilands” and made psychosocial health and safety and bullying complaints in relation to the conduct of Mr Kyle Sandilands on and prior to 20 February 2026. It is alleged that the Complaint Letter involved the exercise or proposal to exercise workplace rights, and that the contract was terminated because of that exercise or proposed exercise, in alleged contravention of section 340 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth). It is also alleged the termination of her contract amounted to a repudiation of that agreement.
The applicants also claim that ARN’s ASX Market announcement of 3 March 2026 included misleading and deceptive statements under the Australian Consumer Law. The applicants claim compensation of ‘at least $82,250,000’, and payment of a pecuniary penalty, plus interest and costs.
ARN disputes the claims. It intends to defend the proceedings. Given the early stage of the matter, ARN is unable to reliably estimate the outcome or any potential financial impact.
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