An Australian radio giant has axed its top-rating show, with controversial host Kyle Sandilands vowing to sue his employer after it tore up his multimillion-dollar contract.
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ARN told the ASX on Wednesday morning that the shock jock's contract has been terminated, ending the Kyle and Jackie O Show after more than 20 years.
Sandilands vowed to fight ARN, the parent company of KIIS FM, over the decision.
"I don't accept it. My lawyers told them last week this would be invalid. And guess what? It is," he said in a statement.
"Let me tell you what actually happened here. Jackie and I had a blue on air. That's it. The kind of thing we've done a hundred times in 25 years. And ARN took the situation and decided to try and burn the place down.
"They sacked Jackie. They suspended me. They wouldn't even let me pick up the phone to call her or anyone else on the show. Then — and this is the bit that gets me — once they'd made it impossible for the show to go on, they turn around and say, "You didn't fix it. You're fired!"
ARN suspended the radio host on March 3 and issued him with a breach notice for "serious misconduct" after he berated co-host Jackie "O" Henderson on-air on February 20.
Sandilands denied he breached his $100 million contract.
The friction between the hosts stemmed from Sandilands slamming Henderson for looking into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's horoscope.
"You're off with the fairies ... every segment, every time you've spoken, you don't even know what's going on," Sandilands said during the broadcast.
On Wednesday, Sandilands said he had apologised to his co-host of two decades immediately after the blow-up.
"In the two weeks since, I've done everything ARN asked. I said, put me back on air. I'll work with Jackie. I'll work with someone else. Whatever you need. Every single time – "no." They weren't interested. They didn't want to fix this.
"They thought they saw a chance to get out of the contract they signed with me a year ago, and they ran with it."
The Sydney ratings darlings are in the second year of a decade-long, $200 million contract which coincided with a poorly received entry into the Melbourne radio market.
ARN's share price has dropped 64 per cent since the 10-year deal was signed in November 2023.
The show was hit with repeated decency breaches on Monday after the regulator found ARN had lost control of its content.
Sandilands said ARN knew exactly what it was getting when it signed the deal, adding they had worked together for more than a decade.
"They knew how I work, they knew the show, and they were happy to pay for it — because I delivered. Number one ratings. Year after year. Hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for their business. I held up my end. I always have," he said.
"So, you tell me — why would ARN prefer to breach a contract and pay the legal consequences rather than honour the contract and pay me to do what I do best? That's the bit that doesn't make sense.
"I've got a contract until 2034. I've got rights under that contract. And ARN hasn't honoured the contract. So, it's over to my lawyers."
ARN said on March 3 that Henderson gave notice she could no longer work with her co-host and it considered Sandilands' comments a breach of his contract.
Australian Associated Press
