Kyle Sandilands repeatedly berated Kiis FM executives, the radio station’s censors, critics of the Kyle and Jackie O Show and the Melbourne audience in expletive-laden rants, according to federal court documents.
The details of the alleged tirades, which aired months before the shock jock was sacked and accused of “serious misconduct” by ARN, are contained in the company’s defence of an $85m claim filed by Sandilands.
The defence alleges Sandilands called activist group Mad Fucking Witches (MFW) “dangerous lunatics”, denigrated the in-house censors for using the dump button and referred to ARN executives as “pussies”.
The grassroots activists, MFW, launched a community campaign targeting Sandilands and was successful in damaging Kiis FM’s advertising revenue.
“I’ll have [private investigators] following everyone they’ve ever known till I find some shit on these folks,” he said about MFW, according to the court documents. “I think they’re Mothers For Wokeness, MFW. They’re a bunch of lunatics. They’re actually very threatening.”
He also denigrated the show’s Melbourne audience and attacked management for efforts to increase the program’s popularity in that market, ARN said in documents released by the federal court on Thursday.
“Here’s something I haven’t even discussed with Jackie. If we don’t rate better by the end of this year, I’m pulling the carpet out. I’ll just take the show off Melbourne. You can suck my dick”, he said.
He said ARN had “no control whatsoever over what we do on this show” and told the censor: “Don’t go bleeping this shit out or you censors will have no job.”
“Let me explain one more time, the bosses have no control whatsoever over what we do on this show. Zero. None. Jackie and I … it starts and ends with what we want to do.”
The dispute began with an on-air argument between Sandilands and his co-host, Jackie “O” Henderson over her interest in astrology. She walked off the breakfast show after he gave her a dressing down which brought her to tears. Henderson told ARN she could no longer work with her on-air partner of 25 years and her contract was terminated.
Henderson has also launched legal action, claiming she should be awarded compensation of “at least $82,250,000” for the wrongful termination of her 10-year contract. Henderson has alleged she was subject to “degrading” comments by Sandilands on air.
According to the defence, during the final appearance on air together Sandilands said to Henderson “I’ve been carrying this whole show for a fucking year … I’m just left here with a limp dick in my hand.”
The ARN defence said Sandilands told Melbourne listeners, who were not tuning in at the rate management had expected, “You can suck my dick”.
“I don’t give a shit [about shareholders]. I got my money. End of caring.”
ARN alleges Sandilands walked off the show in July 2025 after complaining about the censor and the law of contempt of court. The radio station was under pressure after the Victorian office of public prosecutions considered contempt charges in relation to comments he made about murderer Erin Patterson during her trial.
“I’m not going to waste my life coming in here when I’m being given this instruction, that instruction, this archaic law, that archaic law,” Sandilands said, according to the defence. “Not doing it. Just not interested in being puppeteered by losers. Right?”
ARN has also filed a cross-claim to both Sandilands and Henderson’s law suits which alleges that Sandilands broke his $100m, 10-year contract through his behaviour which resulted in Henderson refusing to present with her co-host.
“As a consequence [ARN has] suffered loss or damage in the form of lost advertising revenue, or lost profits,” the cross-claim lodged in the federal court said.
ARN is seeking damages from the pair for breach of their separate $100m contracts and loss of advertising revenue.
In its defence ARN said it directed Sandilands to read, understand and comply with the broadcasting code after the Australian Communications and Media Authority (Acma) threatened to impose additional licence conditions on the licensees after repeated breaches of the decency provision of the commercial radio code of practice.
In March, Acma ruled that any Kiis FM radio program the pair hosted must not air strong sexual content for the next five years or ARN Media could face penalties as serious as the cancellation of the radio station’s licence. However, the ruling came after the duo had been taken off air.
Justice Angus Stewart will hold a joint case management hearing on Friday morning, despite the applicants filing separate cases against ARN.
The hearing will be livestreamed on the federal court YouTube channel.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: theguardian.com
