Returning Australian Idol judge Kyle Sandilands has two decades of problematic behaviours and scandals that have cemented him as one of the most divisive personalities in the country’s media landscape.
With thousands of potential viewers threatening to boycott the revamped singing competition due to the radio shock jock’s long history of scandals, it’s well overdue to reflect on his controversial past.
In 2022 alone, Kyle has been accused of “sexism“, “white-washing“, “homophobia”, “ableism“, “bullying” and “slut-shaming“, broadcasting his often under-educated comments to millions of listeners under the guise of being a jokester.
However, the father-of-one still has a loyal and unapologetic fanbase that argues his naysayers are too caught up in “cancel culture”.
But the legacy Kyle has created isn’t just him being “politically incorrect”.
His “media scandals” can have a significant impact on marginalised communities, as well as individual victims, and honestly, enough is enough.
Kyle Sandilands’ early scandals
Kyle was already a prominent radio personality when he replaced Ian ‘Dicko’ Dickson on Australian Idol in late 2004.
During his five-year stint on the singing show’s judging panel, Kyle was caught up in several incidents from his controversial statements on The Kyle and Jackie O Show.
In 2005, Kyle won a defamation suit against Today Tonight after they accused him of “cooking the charts” by promoting then-girlfriend Tamara Jaber‘s song on his radio show.
Kyle also copped backlash in 2007 after claiming that smoking was not as harmful to people as the Australian Government suggested. Yeah, that aged like milk…
Just two days later, Kyle told Enough Rope host Andrew Denton that he wanted to “punch Dave Hughes in the throat” because the comedian called him a “d*ckhead”. Classy.
Why Kyle Sandilands was fired from Australian Idol in 2009
**TRIGGER WARNING: This section will discuss a specific person’s experience with sexual assault. This may be triggering to readers with similar experiences.
A triggering segment on The Kyle and Jackie O Show saw a minor being forced to talk about their sexual assault experience while using a lie detector device.
The minor’s mother asked her on-air whether she was sexually active. The girl replied that she had been raped when she was 12 years old.
Kyle immediately asked her: “Right, and is that the only experience you’ve had?”
Jackie O Henderson cut the conversation off, with the radio hosts later explaining they didn’t know about the sexual assault.
However, the victim later specified that her mother had known about the rape before bringing her onto the show.
Due to public (and political) backlash, The Kyle and Jackie O Show was shelved for a short period and Kyle was removed from his role on Australian Idol.
Kyle later said he had “no regrets” about the incident.
Kyle Sandilands joked about concentration camps helping with weight loss
In 2009, Kyle claimed that Magda Szubanski “could be skinny” if she went to a “concentration camp”.
The Kath and Kim star was the face of a weight loss program at the time, and Kyle joked that she wasn’t “skinny” enough to be a representative.
“She could get another season out of them, easy, she’s not skinny,” he began.
“You put her in a concentration camp and you watch the weight fall, like she could be skinny,” Kyle said.
He was suspended from 2Day FM for the comment, which he said wasn’t intended to “upset anyone”.
Kyle Sandilands made numerous fatphobic comments on Australian Idol
The former panellist openly admitted to judging Australian Idol contestants’ future success based on their weight.
In 2006, he told 16-year-old Jessica Mauboy to “lose the jelly belly” and warned Kate DeAraugo to work on her “tuck shop lady arms”.
Kyle claimed he was helping the contestants “be the best they can be”.
“For some reason, people think I don’t like women that are overweight,” he said. “If they’re fat, then I say to them they should lose weight.”
Kyle Sandilands has used “fat” as an insult throughout his entire career
The 51-year-old has also made countless fatphobic comments about other celebrities and journalists, often using it as an insult when somebody has made a negative comment towards him.
Most prominently, he called a journalist a “fat, bitter thing” after she gave his show a Night with the Stars a negative review.
“What a fat bitter thing you are, you deputy editor of an online thing. You’ve got a nothing job anyway,” Kyle said on air.
“You’re a piece of sh*t. You little troll… You should be fired from your job,” he continued.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, he also claimed that he would “hunt [her] down” for her review.
Kyle Sandilands lied about donating money to a boy with brain damage
In 2009, Kyle pledged on-air to donate $35,000 to an Australian family whose son suffered brain damage after nearly drowning.
Kyle and Jackie O interviewed them on 2DayFM after the parents were forced to quit their jobs to care for their four-year-old boy, who was paralysed in the accident.
The network raised $150,000, including Kyle’s and listeners’ donations.
The boy’s mother later revealed on Today that when they went to collect the donations, the station merely gave them a list of names of people who had pledged money.
This forced the parents to take time away from giving their son care to act as “debt collectors” by calling up listeners who had pledged money, according to The Daily Telegraph.
While this could be considered the station’s fault, Kyle certainly wasn’t a bystander in the controversy.
The presenter initially pledged to give $35,000, but he eventually only gave $20,000 after multiple follow-up calls from the boy’s parents. He later donated the full amount after public backlash.
Kyle Sandilands has said numerous ableist slurs during his radio career
The presenter has been embroiled in numerous controversies regarding his ableist language and offensive comments against people with disabilities.
In 2006, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that Kyle used a slur towards an Australian Idol contestant, which was an offensive term used against people with Down Syndrome and those of Asian descent.
As reported by the same publication in 2012, Kyle was investigated by The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) after describing a disabled child as a “spider baby” because he was born with additional limbs.
During the Tokyo Paralympics, Kyle described the event (which he called the “special Olympics”) as “horrific” and claimed the professional soccer players looked like they were throwing “themselves on the ground like sausages”.
Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John called for Kyle to be fired for his “abhorrent, ignorant and ableist” comments.
Kyle has continued to use ableist language throughout his radio career.
Most recently, he was called out for using an offensive slur to describe his colleagues in October 2022.
Kyle Sandilands described religious people as “dumb as dog sh*t”
Protestors gathered outside KIIS FM studios in 2019 after Kyle described those who followed Christianity and Muslim religions as “dumb as dog sh*t”.
Kyle claimed that the Virgin Mary was probably impregnated “behind the camel shed”, as reported by news.com.au.
“I thought Mary was [Jesus’] girlfriend, but apparently, it was the mother. [She] lied obviously and told everyone, ‘Nah I got pregnant by a magical ghost’. Bullsh*t.”
He continued: “You might believe everything that was written down 2000 years ago to be absolutely accurate. Good on you, you’re dumb. Dumb as dog sh*t.”
Kyle later backtracked, stating that “everybody was entitled to their own religious beliefs”.
However, protestors argued that his comments went against the Australian Radio Commercial Code of Conduct, which states “a radio station cannot offend [or] discriminate against religion, sex, gender”.
Kyle Sandilands’ “slut-shaming” and misogynistic comments throughout his career
During his controversial interview with A Current Affair in 2013, Kyle addressed being called a “misogynist”.
“I’ve read that I’m a misogynist, I’m a women hater, I always attack women. It’s simply not true. I’ll say anything to anyone,” he said.
Most recently, Abbie Chatfield slammed Kyle for “slut-shaming” her on-air with fellow The Bachelor Australia alum Brittany Hockley.
“Kyle is starting all this tone but [for Brittany] to go along with the tone [of slut shaming… Kyle, you have no idea about my sexual habits unless you listen to the podcast,” Abbie said.
“Give me sh*t, but don’t make it at the expense of other people listening and other women listening. Do not perpetuate slut-shaming bullsh*t on the biggest radio show in the country.”
Australian Idol‘s Kyle Sandilands addresses allegations of “white-washing”
After bizarrely being allowed back to make production decisions and appear on the Australian Idol reboot, Kyle hit back at allegations the show was “white-washing” its judging panel.
Speaking on The Kyle and Jackie O Show, the radio presenter claimed he and the casting team “had fingers in many pies” while searching for the perfect judging panel. However, the announced 2023 judges are not at all diverse.
“You can’t say, ‘One judge has got to be a non-binary black person’. That’s not how the real world works. And it shouldn’t,” Kyle claimed.
He then suggested that “hate will continue to grow” if race and gender quotas are reinforced, and “humans should be treated like humans”.
Kyle Sandilands denies making racist comments
In 2020, Kyle was accused of making “racist” comments about a Chinese sex worker’s pubic hair. He argued that it was just an observation.
“It’s not even offensive; it’s fact Chinese pubes are straight,” Kyle said, demanding an apology from The Daily Telegraph.
National Council of Women of Australia president Robyn Nolan told Confidential that Kyle’s comments were “appalling” and “unacceptable”.
He was later labelled as “racist” on his own radio show by KIIS FM’s Block Party host Rodney Overby while discussing the Black Lives Matter movement.
“Kyle, you’re racist,” Rodney said, to which Kyle responded: “Am I?”
Rodney replied: “Yeah, you’re racist. You say some real racist sh*t.”
Earlier in 2020, Yahoo! reported that Kyle received backlash after describing Meghan Markle’s mother as “the black mum” while interviewing the Dutchess’s half-brother.
While interviewing The Bachelorette’s Angie Kent in 2019, Kyle crudely asked about the show’s casting.
“Were there any black men in there? Did they throw in a few blacks for you?” Kyle asked, according to Who.
After offending the Hindu community, Kyle Sandilands claimed he’s not racist because he “loves Indians”
Kyle caused outrage among the Hindu community in 2011 when he described the sacred Ganges river as a “junkyard” and India as a “sh*thole”.
After the Universal Society of Hinduism president Rajan Zed urged ACMA to take “appropriate action”, Kyle issued an apology.
“I’m apologising. Anyone that’s Indian that listens to this show knows that I love Indians… I don’t discriminate. I love everyone,” Kyle said.
He continued: “I just made the mistake that the river, which, to me, looks polluted, I said it was a junkyard and I did not realise that it was holy.”
Kyle Sandilands received backlash for anti-LGBTQIA+ comments, despite claims he’s not a “gay hater”
On a positive note, Kyle once told a homophobic caller to “go away, you peasant” in 2017 after they made bigoted claims that LGBTQIA+ parents were “cruel” to children. Woohoo, the bare minimum!
However, he and Jackie O have had their fair share of controversies of their own about homophobic language and comments.
The Kyle and Jackie O Show aired a blatantly transphobic segment about nonbinary singer Sam Smith
Kyle made transphobic comments towards LGBTQIA+ singer Sam Smith, who came out as nonbinary (they/them pronouns) in 2020.
The radio hosts had been asked to use Sam’s preferred pronouns before they appeared on The Kyle and Jackie O Show to promote their show for Sydney’s Mardi Gras, according to Pink News.
Kyle couldn’t handle the non-gendered language, making wild claims that he should be allowed to identify as a different race and use racial slurs.
“I’m sick of this. Why should I have to do this? I’ll now be allowed to use the N-word because I identify as a Black woman. Is that right? Is that how it works?” Kyle asked.
He continued: “I’m not buying into the ‘their’. I can’t. It’s too much. ‘They’re an absolute sweetie,’ like there’s two of them.”
Jackie O said that using somebody’s preferred pronouns was “the way it is these days”. However, when explaining how to use they/them pronouns for Sam, she misgendered them multiple times.
Due to Kyle’s refusal to respect Sam’s pronouns, they were interviewed by KIISFM radio presenter Mitch Churi instead.
Kyle and Jackie O’s negative comments referring to lesbian talk show host Ellen Degeneres
There’s no denying that Ellen Degeneres has a long list of controversies and problematic behaviour of her own.
But that certainly doesn’t give cisgender-heterosexual people free rein to make jokes about her sexuality… and The Kyle and Jackie O Show never got that memo.
Kyle questioned New Zealand-born singer Lorde about her friendship with Taylor Swift in 2014, asking: “Are you guys together now… I’m not talking about ‘Ellen together’ I’m talking, you guys are friendly, right?”
“What do you mean you’re not talking about ‘Ellen together’, is there something wrong with lesbians?” Lorde asked, which Kyle took to mean that she was a lesbian. No allies allowed, apparently!
When Kyle asked Lorde whether she was in ” a lesbian relationship with her”, Lorde responded: “Don’t even try it.”
Jackie O previously came under fire in 2012 from Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby for using the word “lez” in a ridiculing way, according to Digital Spy.
She revealed that she does not like her middle name Ellen anymore because it “sounds a bit lez”. Okay, and?! Why would it be such a bad thing to be called a ‘lez’?
Kyle Sandilands described monkeypox as “the big gay disease”
In July 2022, Monkeypox was declared a Communicable Disease Incident of National Significance. However, Kyle took it upon himself to declare the contagious infection “the big gay disease” live on air.
“The Monkeypox, the big gay disease floating around, it’s only the gays getting it,” Kyle said
The shock jock needed to get vaccinated against monkeypox before he was allowed to visit his newborn son, Otto.
“I’m putting my life in the gays’ hands as well,” Kyle said after asking a medical “expert” about his risk of contracting Monkeypox should his openly gay colleague come in contact with the virus.
His comments were then slammed by the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations, as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald.
Kyle Sandilands claimed his homophobic monkeypox comments were “warning” gay people
Discussing the distasteful radio segment on The Project in late August 2022, Professor Bill Bowtell suggested that Kyle’s comments were “a form of hate speech”.
Kyle responded in September, stating on-air: “Listen to me, dog! The stats are actually scientific, you dopey professor. 98 per cent of those people are gay men… So that’s not misinformation. That’s the truth.
“So this professor trying to instil this woke culture of not telling everybody the truth, therefore some people get sick and some people die. That’s stupid.”
Kyle also claimed that he was “warning” the “gays” about the disease, slamming anybody who made him appear like a “gay hater”.
“I didn’t even say anything bad about the gays. The gays are getting monkeypox. It was a warning. No one else is giving the gays the warning… Heads up gays, watch out for this huge disease,” he declared.
Kyle claimed media outlets were “all so woke” that they “didn’t want to offend anyone”.
Meanwhile, the United Nations noted that similar comments about monkeypox could “reinforce homophobic and racist stereotypes and exacerbate stigma”, which had been evidenced decades earlier.
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