A push to dump Kyle Sandilands from Seven’s Australian Idol has gained momentum as activist group Mad F—ing Witches continues to lobby advertisers ahead of the show’s grand final.
Australian Idol holds its grand final episodes on Monday and Tuesday night this week and Mad F—ing Witches says it wants to see Sandilands removed as a judge on the television show from 2027.
It comes as Sandilands’ $100 million contract with ARN was terminated in March following an on-air argument with his co-host Jackie ‘O’ Henderson and allegations of serious misconduct. Sandilands has now launched legal action against the company, arguing his termination of his contract was invalid because there was no act of serious misconduct.
Meanwhile, Henderson has also launched her own legal proceedings, accusing ARN of failing to act on repeated complaints she had made about Sandilands’ on-air behaviour.
For nearly two years, Mad F—g Witches had put sustained pressure on the KIIS breakfast radio show by targeting its advertisers, ensuring they were aware of the misogynistic content of the show. The campaign had successfully eaten into the radio show’s advertising revenue before it was taken off air earlier this year.
According to Mad F— Witches, two thousand advertisers deserted the Kyle and Jackie O Show over a period of nearly two years.
Speaking to Women’s Agenda, Mad F—ing Witches founder Jennie Hill said: “We’re glad he’s not there [anymore], because the content that he was saying every day on air was very damaging to women and people in minority groups.”
“So he’s not on the air. That’s great. It’s fantastic.”
