Jackie O and ARN Media legal battle continues after Sandilands's settlement

Jackie O and ARN Media legal battle continues after Kyle Sandilands's $12m settlement Thu 18 Jun 2026 at 11:35am In short: Jackie "O" Henderson's radio contract termination case against ARN Media will still go ahead after Kyle Sandilands's $12 million settlement. Henderson says she was wrongfully terminated, whilst lawyers for the company say it was "validly" done. What's next? The case is set down for 10 days in October. A legal battle between radio host Jackie "O" Henderson and her former employer, ARN Media, appears still headed for an October trial after her former co-host Kyle Sandilands settled his own court case against the company. The two had separately launched proceedings in the Federal Court after the termination of their respective $100 million contracts, which followed an on-air argument on the now-defunct Kyle and Jackie O Show in February. But the Sandilands case has now settled, with ARN Media announcing to the ASX on Wednesday it had agreed to pay over $12 million, with $3 million payable as soon as July. During an administrative hearing on Thursday, Justice Angus Stewart noted that a 10-day hearing set down for both cases in October was organised in "very different circumstances". That was partly due to the perceived "urgency" to bring the matter on quickly and the need to hear the cases together. "All of that has gone away," he said. Henderson case 'progressing' The judge indicated the October hearing dates were not "fixed" and he was open to cancelling them. But Henderson's counsel, Vanja Bulut, said they were "very keen to keep those dates". "We have been working expeditiously to get our evidence on," she told the judge. "All of our evidence is now on, and we're very much progressing towards that October date." The Henderson camp had anticipated the length of the hearing would be shortened by the settlement in the Sandilands matter, but remained "agnostic" to the issue. Justice Stewart decided to retain the 10 days. The remainder of the hearing concerned largely administrative issues of due dates for organising material in the Henderson proceedings. Neither Sandilands or Henderson attended court. The judge heard arguments about legal costs linked to a cross-claim by ARN Media which was being discontinued as a result of the Sandilands settlement. The costs were described as not likely to be substantial. Tom Blackburn SC, for ARN Media, said an issue about whether Henderson's broadcasting agreement was "validly terminated" was raised and pursued appropriately. But he said after Sandilands's lawyers admitted that fact, it was no longer necessary to pursue the issue, which was rendered "otiose". However, it remained "a very live issue" in the Henderson matter and was "going to have to be litigated anyway", the court was told. Sandilands's $12m settlement As part of the settlement with Sandilands, ARN Media has agreed to advertise Sandilands's new, independent media project on its platforms in a $1.5 million deal over the next three years. Sandilands has agreed to a revenue share arrangement with ARN Media, providing the media company with 19.9 per cent of the revenue from his new venture. However, he cannot engage with ARN Media's direct competitors for nine months, according to the ASX announcement. Yesterday, Sandilands said the settlement meant he could "get back to work rather than annoying my wife". "My guys were pretty confident of winning, but there's no sort of guarantee,"he said. "And then there's appeals that could drag on forever." Sandilands said he did not mind if the new project was "hugely successful" or if it just kept "the people who were retrenched" employed, and was asked if the settlement brought some relief. "It's quite daunting to have that hanging over your head, and it's boring and it's relentless," he said. "It's just boring as hell to me."