Kyle Sandilands’ termination case should not be a ‘royal commission’ into his career, shock jock’s lawyer tells court | Australian media
Kyle Sandilands’ case is not an opportunity for his career to be given a “royal commission” and Sandilands just wants to get back to work as soon as possible, the shock athlete’s lawyers told the federal court.
Sandilands, who earns $10 million a year on the Kyle and Jackie O Show, has taken Kiis FM to court to claim licensee Commonwealth Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) was wrong to sack him for a serious breach of contract earlier this month.
Judge Angus Stewart heard Sandilands wanted to expedite his case but this will be delayed because CBC wanted to cross-claim that Sandilands was overpaid and should repay part of the $100 million contract.
Sandilands’ claim was for the remaining $85 million he would have earned had the contract been allowed to run until 2034.
“Our case is that the termination is invalid and he is entitled to continue with the program and is entitled to payment under the broadcast services agreement and the intellectual property agreement,” Sandilands’ barrister Scott Robertson SC told the first case management hearing on Friday morning. he said.
“My client’s main goal is to get back on the air in front of his audience as quickly as possible.
“I think in 45 minutes he’ll be out of time or out, but he’s happy to come in on Monday morning and continue his show.”
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Arguing for a quick resolution, Robertson said the case was not an opportunity for a “royal commission into Mr Sandilands and his previous radio career”.
But CBC’s barrister, Tom Blackburn SC, said the chances of Sandilands being brought back on air were “vanishingly small” and he needed time to prepare a proper case.
“We do not accept the basic proposition that Mr Sandilands’ goodwill and notoriety evaporates dramatically for each day he is off air,” Blackburn said.
He said the chances of Sandilands returning to air with Kiis FM were “effectively zero”.
Blackburn said it was “clearly wrong” for the court to force the CBC to put Sandilands back on the air, just as it would have been impossible for the CBC to “force her to host the breakfast show.”
Robertson sought a formal extradition order to speed the case through the court because Sandilands’ claim was “narrowly scoped” and concerned only “20 minutes of conduct in one day”.
But Blackburn said the question of whether Sandilands’ behavior amounted to serious misconduct was a “fact-packed” question for the jury, which would need to consider more than the 20-minute incident with Henderson.
He said this would include a wider review of his previous events and behaviour.
“This is essentially a loan request,” Blackburn said. “He wants $10 million a year for the next eight or nine years.”
Outside court Sandilands repeated his desire to return to work to support his family and pay their mortgage; and said he was sorry for the “outburst” that led to the cancellation of his shows with Henderson.
“Everyone says things from time to time, especially about people you’re close to,” Sandilands said. he said. “He understands. We’ve had explosions before… Now this has turned into a complete circus. I haven’t done anything different than what I’ve done for 25 years.”
Sandilands insisted the conversation, in which he mocked his broadcasting partner of 25 years for his interest in astrology, was “a little tamer than most days”.
Judge Stewart ordered Sandilands to file a statement of claim by April 7 and CBC to file a defense and cross-claim by April 24. He set a tentative date for the hearing, June 22-26.
Under the agreement between CBC and Sandilands’ company, Quasar, the broadcaster was given $7.4 million in cash, $200,000 in consulting fees, $120,000 in flight allowances and $500,000 in airtime rights worth $500,000 each year.
