Updated on 10/04/2026.
Court documents have revealed Jackie ‘O’ Henderson told ARN seniors about what she considered to be former co-host Kyle Sandilands “abusive” behaviour months prior to the on-air implosion of Australia’s most lucrative radio show.
Henderson’s claim stated that she had sought support and raised concerns to Derek Bargwanna, the station manager of KIIS FM, as well as executive producer Natalie Penfold following Sandilands making “offensive and degrading” on-air comments regarding her personal and love life.
Henderson’s statement of claim reads: “On September 10, 2025, Ms Henderson sent a text message to Mr Bargwanna and said that ‘(she) will not be spoken to the way (she) was (particularly off air)’,”
“(The same day) Ms Henderson received a text message from Mr Bargwanna in which he said, ‘Kyle is going to try and call you on air to share good news he lost weight. He wants to be your friend again etc’.”
As reported in court documents, Henderson escalated these concerns directly to Hamish McLennan, the chairman of ARN through Bargwanna. She flagged that listeners, and women in particular, had characterised the pair’s on-air dynamic as similar to an “abusive relationship”.
Bargwanna’s text message to Henderson read: “Just checking in. All OK today?”
To which Henderson replied: “Yeah, it’s fine today”.
“But let’s make sure Hamish [McLennan] and Ciaran [Davis] start to think about how to address this. We are getting a lot of complaints from listeners, calling it an abusive relationship, women especially. I can send you though some [of] the examples.”
“On 11 September 2025, Ms Henderson received a text message from Mr Bargwanna, in reply, in which he said, “Don’t worry, i’m all over that with C and H. Had two chats yest [sic] with them…”.
Despite her efforts at that time, Henderson has claimed ARN made no meaningful attempt to protect her in the workplace.
When the final on-air confrontation occurred, Henderson also claims that ARN did nothing to stop it, although she was “visibly and audibly” distressed. She claims that her co-host swore at her four times during the heated exchange and also questioned her professional competence.
During that broadcast, Sandilands reportedly told his co-host that she “would never find anyone” and dismissed her perspectives as “weird, psychological bullshit” before telling the live audience that it was Henderson’s “period time”.
Henderson alleges that ARN management failed the intervene, despite being made aware of bubbling tensions through her previous complaints. This, she says, ultimately caused her to walk out mid-show.
The next day, Henderson claimed she texted current ARN chief executive Michael Stephenson and chief content officer Kerri Elstub, describing Sandilands’ actions as “unfair, inappropriate and completely unprovoked,” and asked whether any boundaries had been put in place with the radio shock jock.
Henderson’s lawyers then made a formal written complaint to Commonwealth Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), a subsidiary of ARN Media, on 26 February, outlining multiple prior incidents with Sandilands, and alleged CBC had not provided a safe place of work for her.
The complaint letter identified the obligations of CBC under the Work Health and Safety Act to “minimise risks to the health and safety of its workers, including in relation to psychosocial hazards in the workplace”.
It continued to allege that CBC “had not implemented any control measures to minimise the risk to Ms Henderson”.
“The complaint letter stated that, as a result of the matters pleaded above, Ms Henderson could not continue to work with Mr Sandilands,” the statement of claim reads.
“The complaint letter stated that Ms Henderson was willing to continue with the agreement, but required CBC to propose an alternative to the Breakfast Show.”
Henderson has said a letter in response from CBC alleged that her and Henderson Media—the business through which her work with ARN was contracted—had repudiated the agreement, and that CBC had decided to terminate it immediately.
Henderson’s legal case argues that the decision to terminate her contract was in breach of section 340 of the Fair Work Act 2009. She is seeking $82.25 million in compensation along with legal costs, interest and penalties.
Sandilands has filed a separate lawsuit against former employer ARN Media. He is seeking $85 million in damages and payment of his outstanding contract.
ARN’s current market capitalisation sits at $62 million. Combined, both suits amount to nearly three times the company’s market value.
ARN’s share price has fallen over 60 per cent in the past year.
B&T has contacted ARN for comment.
