Kyle Sandilands claims death threats after KIIS FM firing, discusses legal battle and new ventures

Controversial former radio host Kyle Sandilands claims he received death threats after being fired from his KIIS FM breakfast show with co-host Jackie "O" Henderson in February.

In an interview with former Nine Today presenter, Karl Stefanovic, released on YouTube on Sunday, Sandilands said threatening letters had been left at his office.

"There was death threats, letters in my office explaining, 'If you ever do anything on any platform, we'll kill you, we'll hunt you down'," Sandilands said.

Sandilands pointed to the fatal shooting of a US health insurance chief executive in New York in 2024 as an example of the escalation of violence towards public figures.

"What is the assassination culture? All these loons feel empowered that they can go and take out a CEO of a health care company in America on the streets of New York," he said.

"We've all got extreme mates … we're probably our mates' extreme mates. But we need to be based in some sort of correct assumption of what life's all about, we can't be having all these extremes."

Since leaving mainstream media in recent months, both broadcasters have moved towards independent podcasting, entertaining a range of figures.

Stefanovic left Nine in June following backlash over his podcast interview with British far-right figure Tommy Robinson.

On his own network, his guest list has increasingly featured figures on the right of Australian politics, including Pauline Hanson, Gerard Rennick and Barnaby Joyce, with much of the conversation focusing on debate about immigration, monoculture and distrust of mainstream news coverage.

'Someone's bad mood'

Much of the conversation between the pair centred on the fallout from the on-air clash that ended the Kyle and Jackie O Show.

During the February 20 argument, Sandilands told Henderson her interest in astrology made her "almost unworkable".

Henderson then told ARN Media, the show's owner, she could no longer work with him and Sandilands was terminated weeks later.

"I was one year into the 10-year plan, and then, due to someone's bad mood, that fell apart," Sandilands said.

He added during the 35-minute show that he still did not fully understand what had happened, and would not speak to Henderson until her court case concluded.

He said the sacking itself was not as bad as he imagined.

"People would think, 'He's crushed'. There are people rejoicing and stamping all over the death and the ashes of both of us. But let them. They've got very little joy in their heart, those trolls," he said.

But he said the fallout had taken a heavier toll on staff, including his manager, who he said had been left "projectile vomiting" over the loss of his own job.

Henderson has since launched Federal Court proceedings against ARN, alleging the network failed to act on bullying and psychosocial safety complaints she says she raised about Sandilands's conduct.

Sandilands rejected that he was a bully.

"Women resigned from the radio station to come and work for me," he said.

"That's remarkable for such a horrific bully in the workplace."

Kyle claims he was 'the little person'

Despite his vast wealth, Sandilands said the legal battle in the Federal Court had left him disillusioned with the legal system.

"I've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars with lawyers … only for someone to say, 'It was gross misconduct, you're fired'," he said.

"This legal system … it's not fair. Whether I can pay for it or not, it's designed to squash the little person down and in this case, I was a little person."

Stefanovic agreed, saying there was little ordinary people could do if faced with the same circumstances.

"What actually happens to the person in the media, or the person in any corporation, who does just get shown the door and there's no recourse for them? There's absolutely nothing they can do," Stefanovic added.

Sandilands has since launched his own subscription podcast venture, KS Live, and said he had already secured enough funding to operate for three years.

He proposed the notion of joining forces with Stefanovic to form a new corporation, where former radio jockey Ray Hadley could present a midday program.

"There's nothing stopping that," Sandilands said.