Former Kyle and Jackie O Show host Kyle Sandilands has admitted he repeatedly berated his co-host Jackie ‘O’ Henderson on their top-rated KIIS breakfast show but claims he was encouraged to do so by radio bosses to ‘cash in’ on their fights.
Sandilands is suing KIIS owner Australian Radio Network (ARN) for breach of contract and unlawful termination after it tore up his multimillion-dollar contract over a February 20 on-air clash involving the pair.
The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting it has seen court documents that show Sandilands admitted to allegations by ARN that he used harsh words towards Henderson multiple times, but he argued this did not constitute a breach of contract because KIIS used the material to make money.
Sandilands also claimed radio bosses encouraged his behaviour by airing and promoting clips of the pair’s blow-ups with titles telling listeners to hear the “EXPLOSIVE off-air fight”.
Sandilands and Henderson’s professional relationship imploded after Sandilands berated Henderson on-air on February 20 over her fascination with horoscopes.
Henderson was absent from the show the following week. ARN said on March 3 she would not be returning to the show before announcing on March 18 the show would not be returning.
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Sandilands’ contract was terminated for serious misconduct while Henderson’s contract was terminated after she indicated she could no longer work with Sandliands.
Since then, both have launched separate lawsuits challenging the contract terminations and each claiming compensation of $82 million – the amount left to pay out on the $100 million five-year contracts they inked in 2023.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported overnight that ARN laid out several times Sandilands had verbally attacked Henderson on air, which it said amounted to serious misconduct.
But in a court filing lodged on Friday, Sandilands’ lawyers admitted that while many of the incidents took place, they did not constitute bullying or harassment.
Sandilands’ lawyers documented other incidents between Sandilands and Henderson, including an off-air argument the pair had in early 2025, when Sandilands said Henderson was “on it hard” that morning.
“Like you were away with the fairies,” he said. “We were laughing because you were off with the fairies and weren’t paying attention.”
When Henderson replied she was “constantly getting f—ing gas lit around here”, Sandilands shot back: “Don’t go pulling up those f—ing lying statements”.
The off-air incident came to light after it was mentioned by Sandilands on-air and placed in a podcast by ARN entitled “Kyle & Jackie’s unheard EXPLOSIVE off air fight”, which aired on May 5, 2025.
According to a court document seen by The Sydney Morning Herald, Sandilands and Henderson asked ChatGPT therapy-style questions live on air in November 2024, which included, “How should I stop making drug-related jokes around my colleague who’s currently a recovering addict?”
This was a reference to Henderson making public her battles with alcohol and prescription medication addiction a month earlier.
Sandilands also asked, “How do I tell my work colleague I think she’s dating way too many different fellas”.
His legal team has since outlined several examples of the type of behaviour they said was not a breach of his contract because, in essence, ARN had created an expectation it was acceptable under the terms of his agreement.
“[ARN] publicly exploited and thereby sought to monetise the conduct,” Sandilands’ lawyers said in their reply.
“[They did this] without directing or requesting Mr Sandilands or Ms Henderson not to engage in conduct of that kind.”
Sandilands’ lawyers also mentioned an episode in late 2023 during which Sandilands stormed out of the studio.
The following day, Henderson asked on-air whether this fight would be broadcast.
“Why didn’t we put it on? Oh, well, what are you going to do, put a podcast? People would tune in for that. They would actually probably get our highest ratings,” she said.
The podcast episode for this show was entitled “The REAL reason Kyle left the show yesterday”, with the description “have a listen for all the details”.
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Henderson is also suing ARN, alleging the network failed to provide a safe workplace for her and that she regularly raised concerns about workplace bullying.
According to an application filed on March 30 in the Federal Court of Australia, which was released by the courts on April 8, Henderson asked her bosses at ARN to step in and put a stop to Sandilands’ behaviour towards her six months before the February 20 argument.
The court documents, seen by nine.com.au, showed Henderson complained about Sandilands after an incident back in August 2025, when she accused him of berating her during their popular show and said she was on “period time”.
Henderson reportedly demanded the chairman and chief executive of ARN intervene to stop Sandilands treating her as if they were in an “abusive relationship”, the court documents show.
She also reportedly brought Sandilands’ behaviour to the attention of ARN bosses in text messages as early as February 2025.
ARN is countersuing both Sandilands and Henderson in addition to defending against both claims.
The network is also demanding the pair pay for advertising KIIS lost after they allegedly breached their contracts.
The matter is due back in court in June.
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