Former Kyle and Jackie O Show host Jackie Henderson has accused her former employer of wrongful termination and misleading the market after ARN Media suggested she had been offered another show when it announced that she was walking away from a $200 million contract.
For more than two decades, Henderson and her Kiis FM co-host, shock jock Kyle Sandilands, dominated Sydney breakfast airwaves on their eponymous show. All that came undone after an on-air bust up on February 20 that resulted in Henderson walking away, staying off-air for more than a week, and telling ARN executives she could no longer work with him. Jackie “O” Henderson claims she was wrongfully terminated by Kiis FM owner ARN Media.  Tim Bauer

On March 3, ARN told the ASX it had terminated the 51-year-old’s contract after she said she “cannot continue to work with Mr Kyle Sandilands”.
ARN also accused Sandilands of serious misconduct and of breaching his own contract, and gave him 14 days – until this coming Tuesday – to “remedy” his breach. The statement also said that ARN had “offered to Ms Henderson the possibility of an alternative show on the ARN network.”
Two people with detailed knowledge of Henderson’s legal correspondence with the company, who both requested anonymity because the discussions were confidentially, said she had alleged ARN wrongfully ended her contract and had not offered her another show. Henderson’s agent, Gemma O’Neill, declined to comment. A spokesman for ARN declined to respond to questions but said the company stood by its statement to the ASX.

A wrongful termination claim suggests Henderson did not intend to walk away from her contract for The Kyle and Jackie O Show, and it was an opportunistic decision to axe her from the network. This is made more complicated by the fact that it was her lawyers who told ARN she could not work with Sandilands, according to a person close to the discussions.

The involvement of Henderson’s lawyers in the interaction suggests this was not an off-the-cuff statement that ARN seized on to tear up what had become an onerous contract.
The glimpse into the private legal back-and-forth between Henderson and ARN, which owns the Kiis and Pure Gold radio brands, sets the scene for a blockbuster clash over the duo’s $200 million, 10-year contract. Sandilands released a statement earlier this week saying he was “not in breach” and intended to vigorously fight to stay on-air. Henderson had previously released a short statement noting she had lawyers, and that she “did not quit or resign”.
ARN, one person briefed on the negotiations said, had prepared a new offer for her that extended well beyond a radio show. The company’s new chief executive, Michael Stephenson, has previously described ARN as in the business of “entertainment”, and not just radio.
It appears the legal woes for ARN, which is advised by Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, are far from over. The market is counting down to days to Tuesday, when ARN is set to reveal whether Sandilands has remedied the situation or it will terminate his contract as well.

The spectacular blow-up of Australia’s most expensive radio show came after a failed expansion into Melbourne and a lengthy boycott launched by an activist group called Mad Fucking Witches.
MFW, as it is known, sent clips or quotes from Sandilands to the show’s advertisers and successfully pressured them to pull their funding.
ARN’s metropolitan revenue fell 16 per cent last year, compared to a 4 per cent jump for its main rival, Hit and Triple M owner Southern Cross Media.