Kyle Sandilands: ARN sacks KIIS FM shock jock after ‘inappropriate’ behaviour towards Jackie O Henderson
Kyle Sandilands has been sacked from KIIS FM parent company ARN, just hours after saying he wanted to continue hosting the breakfast show for listeners who wanted him back.
The shock jock terminated his $100 million contract on Tuesday after ARN deemed his behavior towards co-host Jackie O Henderson on February 20 inappropriate.
ARN suspended the controversial presenter on March 3 and said he had 14 days to correct the breach, but his time on air has now expired.
The dismissal comes just hours after Sandilands appeared outside his Sydney home on Tuesday and told media he expected ARN to honor its contract.
“At the end of the day I have a contract with ARN and I expect them to honor it,” Sandilands said on Tuesday.
“If not, I have some options.”
Asked if he would consider buying the media company, which has a market value of about $106 million, Sandilands smiled and said he had “lots of options.”
“I still want to do the show, listeners want me to come back to the show,” he said.
The row between the breakfast hosts arose when Sandilands berated Henderson live on air; Henderson criticized Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor after reading his horoscope.
“You go with the fairies… every episode, every time you talk, you don’t even know what’s going on,” Sandilands said.
“You don’t do the rest of the work, and everyone in this building has told me about that.”
Henderson took some time off from work following the on-air row before ARN announced he was ending his contract after telling the channel he “couldn’t continue working with Kyle Sandilands”.
But Henderson reportedly threatened to sue ARN for wrongful termination and misleading the public after it released a statement saying she was not quitting or resigning from the show.
“I am deeply saddened by the events of last week and the possibility of the series ending. This came as a shock to me, like everyone else,” he said.
“It was truly heartbreaking to see how this unfolded. At this stage I cannot say anything further as I have dealt with the matter through the appropriate legal channels.”
The Sydney duo are in the second year of a decade-long, $200 million contract, which coincides with a poor entry into the Melbourne radio market.
