Kyle Sandilands has taken a swipe at Ben Fordham in his first interview since reaching a $12 million settlement with ARN.
Speaking to Craig Bruce and Irene Hulme on The GameChangers podcast, Sandilands explained why he is unhappy with the 2GB breakfast host, saying Fordham wanted him on his program after Sandilands’ $100 million contract was torn up.
Sandilands said he was not interested.
“You know your media friends that aren’t really your friends, but you see them at things,” he explained.
“Ben was one of them. He was like, ‘It was outrageous, it was never going to last … it was terrible mathematics, who would be worth $200 million? It’s ridiculous!’”
Sandilands said Fordham then invited him onto his show despite those comments, which left him furious.
“Then he’d send me a text, ‘Mate, do you wanna come on? And I’d say, ‘no, you’re being a c**t about it, f**k you, and then he wrote, ‘don’t be a sook’.”
He then hit back at Fordham over that exchange.
“You want a slap, watch your mouth! I don’t put up with his bulls**t. I don’t give a shit if he’s mouthy, you deserve a slap.”
Fordham responded on-air and said he was not taking the criticism quietly.
“Kyle has had a crack at little old me,” he said.
“You can slap me anytime, sweetheart. Let me say this to Kyle ‘the slapper’ Sandilands,” he told listeners.
“I love that you role-play as a tough guy. Be honest with yourself? Tell the truth … you didn’t threaten to slap me!”
Fordham said Sandilands was having “aggressive fantasies” about him and claimed no such threat had been made.
“I finished the message by saying toughen the f**k up, and he didn’t write back. Sorry to spoil your fantasy, Kyle.”
Away from the clash with Fordham, Sandilands also disclosed how much he had spent on lawyers after challenging ARN’s decision to tear up his $100 million contract before the matter was ultimately settled for $12 million.
He said he had been “loosely communicating” with Jackie O Henderson behind the scenes and let her know before the settlement was finalised.
“It was the day after my birthday that I messaged her (Jackie), to say, ‘Hey, I’ve decided after discussing with my wife and lawyers this could drag on for another year and a half to two years, and cost a couple of million dollars,” he explained.
“I’ve already spent $1 million on legal fees in just four or five months, and the guys are like, ‘We can get them for $35 million to $45 million.”
The radio industry was rocked in March when Sandilands was terminated for alleged “serious misconduct” after an on-air spat with Jackie O Henderson on February 20th. In the fallout, both Henderson’s and Sandilands’ $100 million contracts were terminated by the broadcaster.
Henderson is continuing with her separate case against ARN, while Sandilands’ matter has now been resolved.
Sandilands said he agreed to settle for $12 million because the issue was not really about money, and because he believes he can make another $45 million by returning to broadcasting.
“I’m happy to earn the money! I’d do the show for free, and it isn’t if we’re broke,” he said.
He said the call to settle only came a couple of weeks ago after a conversation with his lawyers, who told him, “it could go another 12 months in appeals”.
After ending that call, Sandilands said he looked outside and saw his wife, Tegan, with their young son, Otto, and decided he no longer wanted to be “righteous” by continuing the fight.
He said he did not want his “ego” to override what his “family needs”, and that his family shaped the choice he made.
“This is a different decision that I made that I would have made in the past,” he said.
Sandilands said he accepted the “miserable amount” ARN was offering so he could move on with his life and launch his solo project, Kyle Sandilands Live.
