Kyle Sandilands’ court case was not an occasion for a “royal commission” into his career and he just wants to get back to work quickly, the shock jock’s lawyers have told the federal court.
Sandilands, who was earning $10m a year to front the Kyle and Jackie O Show, has taken Kiis FM to court to argue the licensee, Commonwealth Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), was wrong to terminate him for serious breach of contract earlier this month.
Justice Angus Stewart heard Sandilands wants to fast-track his case but it would be delayed because CBC wanted to lodge a cross-claim that Sandilands has been overpaid and should pay some of the $100m contract back.
Sandilands’ claim is for the remaining $85m he would have earned if the contract had been allowed to run its course until 2034.
“Our case is that the termination was invalid, and he’s entitled to continue the show, and is entitled to the payments under the broadcasting services agreement and under the intellectual property agreement,” Sandilands’ barrister, Scott Robertson SC, said at the first case management hearing on Friday morning.
“My client’s principal objective is to get back on air before his audience as soon as possible.
“I think his slot has come to an end, or it will, in about 45 minutes, but he’s happy to turn up on Monday morning, continue to do his show.”
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Arguing for a quick resolution, Robertson said the case was not an occasion for a “royal commission into Mr Sandilands and his previous radio career”.
But CBC’s barrister, Tom Blackburn SC, said the prospects of Sandilands being put back on air were “vanishingly small” and he needed time to prepare a proper case.
“We don’t accept the central premise that Mr Sandilands’ goodwill and notoriety is dramatically wasting away for every day he’s not on air,” Blackburn said.
The prospect of Sandilands returning to air with Kiis FM “is effectively nil”, he said.
Blackburn said it was “transparently wrong” that the court could force CBC to put Sandilands back on air just as it would be impossible for CBC to “force him to present his breakfast show”.
Robertson sought a formal order for extradition in an attempt to fast-track the case in the courts because Sandilands’ argument is “narrow” and concerns only “20 minutes of conduct on one day”.
But Blackburn said the question of whether Sandilands’ behaviour amounted to serious misconduct was a “fact rich” question for a jury who would need to consider more than the 20-minute incident with Henderson.
It would include previous incidents and a wider review of his behaviour, he said.
“This is, in substance, a claim for a debt,” Blackburn said. “He wants his $10m a year for the next eight or nine years.”
Outside court Sandilands repeated his desire to go back to work to support his family and to pay his mortgages; and said he was sorry about the “blow-up” with Henderson that led to the cancellation of their show.
“Everyone says things from time to time, especially with people that you’re close with,” Sandilands said. “She understands. We’ve had blow-ups before … This has all turned into quite a circus. I didn’t do anything different than I’ve been doing for 25 years.”
Sandilands insisted that the conversation in which he mocked his on-air partner of 25 years for her interest in astrology, was “a little bit tamer than most days”.
Justice Stewart ordered Sandilands to lodge a statement of claim by 7 April and CBC a defence and a cross-claim by 24 April. He set down a provisional date of 22 to 26 June for a hearing.
Under the agreement between CBC and Sandilands’ company, Quasar, each year the broadcaster was entitled to $7.4m in cash, a consultancy fee of $200,000, a flight allowance of $120,000 and contra air time valued at $500,000.
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