Retired 2GB host Ray Hadley has been called to give evidence in the trial of his radio “rival” Alan Jones, as the veteran broadcaster faces 22 charges of indecent assault and sexual touching.
Hadley has been called to give evidence in relation to allegations that Mr Jones kissed and touched a young colleague in 2008, without the man’s consent.
Live updates, reactions and contributions from ABC readers.
Tue 1 Sep 2026 at 2:56pmTue 1 Sep 2026 at 2:56pm
Hadley made on-air statement
Mr Hadley said some years later, Complainant C phoned him to alter him to an article that was to be published by Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) investigative journalist Kate McClymont in December 2023.
The court heard Ms McClymont’s reporting included a number of allegations against Mr Jones.
Mr Hadley said he aired a pre-recorded statement recognising the article.
“Anything I said pertaining to this matter would have been legalled by our lawyers,” he said.
Mr Hadley said he sent the statement to Complainant C for review, saying he “felt it was important that I didn’t say anything that he’d find difficult to deal with”.
Mr Hadley said the reading was pre-recorded to make sure he didn’t “adlib” on-air.
Tue 1 Sep 2026 at 2:51pmTue 1 Sep 2026 at 2:51pm
Courtroom packed with observers
After a quieter few days of evidence from radio colleague Jason Morrison and another radio station witness, the crowd in court 3.1 of the Downing Centre had started to thin out.
But news of Ray Hadley’s appearance has brought back both journalists and the public on Tuesday, and the 30 or so seats available are almost filled.
As this is a Local Court trial, it is smaller room than a District or Supreme court room, and so space is at a premium when more high-profile witnesses are giving evidence.
Alan Jones is in the court room, as he has been every day, taking notes in a small notebook as he sits alongside some members of his nine-person legal team.
Mr Hadley arrived at court just before 10am, and told media waiting outside that he could make no comment.
Tue 1 Sep 2026 at 2:32pmTue 1 Sep 2026 at 2:32pm
Complainant didn’t want to report allegations, Hadley says
Mr Hadley said he “kept consoling” Complainant C throughout the 30 to 40 minute conversation in October 2019.
He said he asked the man if he wanted him to raise the allegations with Mr Jones’s management, or if he wanted Mr Hadley to accompany him to the police station to make a report.
Mr Hadley said Complainant C “broke down again” and said he did not want anyone else to know about the alleged incidents.
“[Complainant C said] ‘It would ruin me, it would ruin my career … he’s too powerful’,” Mr Hadley said.
Tue 1 Sep 2026 at 2:31pmTue 1 Sep 2026 at 2:31pm
Witness questioned on Hadley’s “secret contract”
Earlier in the morning, a man who worked at 2GB was questioned about his knowledge of an alleged “ploy” for Mr Hadley to replace Mr Jones as program host in 2019.
Mr Jones’s contract was up for renewal that year, with the witness telling the court Mr Hadley had told others in March 2019 he had been signed to take over the breakfast slot by July.
“It just seemed so extraordinary,” the man said.
“It would be an extraordinary changing of the guard if it did happen.”
The court heard the man gave regular updates to Mr Jones via text when he heard any information about Mr Hadley’s “secret contract”.
The man said he saw no such contract, and no one in management had said anything officially about Mr Hadley replacing Mr Jones.
The court heard the takeover deal did not eventuate, and Mr Jones signed on as breakfast show host for another two years by May 2019.
Tue 1 Sep 2026 at 2:24pmTue 1 Sep 2026 at 2:24pm
Complainant ‘broke down and cried’
Crown prosecutor Georgina Wright SC is asking Mr Hadley about a conversation he had with Complainant C in October 2019.
Mr Hadley said during the conversation, Complainant C alleged Mr Jones had touched his crotch and kissed him on multiple occasions.
“I asked him if he was homosexual and whether he was consenting to it,” he said.
“[Complainant C] broke down and cried. He said, ‘no I hated it I’m not homosexual’.”
“He felt a sense of guilt that he allowed it to happen and he wished he’d done something about it.”
Mr Hadley said he had known Complainant C for a number of years.
Tue 1 Sep 2026 at 2:03pmTue 1 Sep 2026 at 2:03pm
Why Ray Hadley is being called
Ray Hadley was this morning seen arriving at court, where he was met by a media scrum.
The trial in the NSW Local Court has previously heard one of Alan Jones’s alleged victims, known as Complainant C, confided in Mr Hadley about the alleged offending.
Mr Jones has pleaded not guilty to 22 counts of indecent assault and sexual touching of six men.
You can read up on what Complainant C claims to have told Mr Hadley here:
Tue 1 Sep 2026 at 1:57pmTue 1 Sep 2026 at 1:57pm
Ray Hadley to give evidence at Alan Jones’s trial
We are standing by to bring you live updates from the NSW Local Court, where veteran radio broadcaster Alan Jones is on trial over allegations of indecent assault and sexual touching.
The next witness to be called is Mr Jones’s “rival” radio host Ray Hadley.
That man, known as Complainant C, has told the NSW Local Court that he confided in Hadley about the alleged offending more than a decade later, but asked the broadcaster not to report it to management.
Mr Jones’s defence team said none of the allegations made by Complainant C ever happened.
In the defence case opening, Mr Jones’ barrister Gabrielle Bashir said “rivalry, treachery, double dealing, money, hatred, desperation, opportunism and more” was at the heart of this trial, and named Hadley as a “rival” who wanted to “destroy” her client.
Alan Jones is facing allegations of indecent assault and sexual touching. (ABC News: Abubakr Sajid )
She told the court Hadley had long been looking for a way to bring down his arch rival Mr Jones, and that Complainant C “delivered” that for him.
Complainant C, who was 40 years younger than Mr Jones, has given evidence that Mr Jones touched his crotch while driving and kissed him multiple times in the lift at his Circular Quay apartment and in the lift at work.
He described Mr Jones as “the most powerful person in Australia” and said that was why he felt he had to “cop” his colleague’s alleged offending.
The court has also heard allegations from the defence that while Hadley was presenting the 2GB mornings program, he “coveted” the breakfast radio slot that Mr Jones held.
A ‘very fierce power struggle’
Earlier, another witness who worked with Mr Jones at 2GB told the court Mr Hadley signed a “secret contract” to take over the breakfast show in 2019.
The witness was shown text messages he sent to Mr Jones in February 2019, in which he said he was trying to raise the alarm that Mr Hadley, who was hosting the Mornings Show, had been telling radio colleagues that he was taking over Breakfast.
He told the court the contract was meant to be a secret, but news of the deal “spread throughout the corridors” and made its way to Mr Jones’s camp.
“It was clear … that Ray had signed a physical contract … to take over from Alan,” he told the court on Monday.
“I was of a view that I should be drilling that into Mr Jones as much as possible.”
But the court heard the alleged takeover deal was never done, and by May 2019, Mr Jones had re-signed as the Breakfast host for another two years.
The witness told the court Complainant C had “hitched his wagon” to Mr Hadley, and admitted that he “hitched his wagon” to Mr Jones.
“I think at the time there was a very fierce power struggle going on between two hosts and there was very little middle ground to be had,” he said.
The crown successfully applied on Monday to cross examine the former 2GB employee as an ‘unfavourable witness’ on some matters, after raising concerns that he had given different evidence from his 2024 police statement.
More on the Alan Jones trial