When decades-long radio rivals Alan Jones and Ray Hadley came face-to-face in courtroom 3.1 of Sydney\u2019s Downing Centre, some advice was issued that may not have been needed.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease take a seat and make yourself comfortable. That microphone in front of you is very sensitive and will record everything you say,\u201d presiding Judge Glenn Walsh said.<\/p>\n
He was instructing Hadley, who\u2019d just lumbered in on this Tuesday with damp hair, like a schoolboy at the principal\u2019s office after a lunchtime scuffle, ready to plonk down in the stand to be questioned about a man he admitted to having a \u201cvery complicated relationship with\u201d.<\/p>\n
After decades on the air as 2GB\u2019s morning show host, a program that followed Jones\u2019 breakfast show on the same station for about 20 years, Hadley didn\u2019t require the judge\u2019s tutorial about broadcast technique. It seemed the former taxi driver-turned-host – who retired from the airwaves at the end of 2024 – relished the chance to wield the microphone again, especially given the hot topic of the day. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe said he\u2019d been sexually assaulted by Mr Jones … in lift wells and other locations,\u201d Hadley testified, telling the court how a former employee of Jones, known only as Complainant C, confided in him in 2019 that Jones had touched his penis and kissed him repeatedly inside the lift at the 2GB radio studio.<\/p>\n
Two talk-back titans. A feud boiling over decades. And now, only one of them could speak.<\/p>\n
The volume was about to be cranked up.<\/p>\n
While Hadley detailed the allegations that were shared with him in his office by the tearful radio staffer, Jones raised his left hand, curled his fingers over his pale palm and seemingly admired his fingernails, the way one does when they\u2019re inspecting for dirt and other unwanted blemishes.<\/p>\n
Jones, 85, is facing 20 counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual touching over allegations dating back almost two decades. Jones has denied all allegations made against him and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.<\/p>\n
Hadley told the court how the alleged victim sobbed in his office at the radio studio in Pyrmont and revealed the \u201cembarrassment and shame\u201d he felt following the alleged physical advances Jones would make.<\/p>\n
Hadley told the court he suggested to the alleged victim that he could talk to management or lodge a complaint with the police.<\/p>\n
Hadley recalled the man saying: \u201cIt\u2019ll ruin me. It\u2019ll ruin my career. He\u2019s too powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the corner of the courtroom, Jones – known for his seemingly endless array of coordinated pastel outfits – was wearing red. To some, it may have represented that perceived power.<\/p>\n
INSULTS, $4M AND A WINK THAT SPARKED CHAOS<\/p>\n
By the second day of the showdown, Hadley\u2019s private text messages to and about Jones were being read aloud, along with statements to the police. All the insults and trash talk and occasional niceties formed an ugly mosaic of corporate treachery and backstabbing that was brewing inside the walls of the Pyrmont radio station.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom about 1987 until 2019, we had stand-up brawls that would end up on the front page of the newspaper,\u201d Hadley told the court during his two-and-a-half days on the stand, where his answers about the various allegations also traced the arc of one of Australia\u2019s greatest media feuds that began at radio station 2UE before both gentlemen jumped across to 2GB in the early 2000s.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe would say he would never work with me again. … He wanted me out of 2UE. We were both under tremendous pressure constantly to deliver. As a result, it was a tumultuous relationship. Sometimes warm and friendly. Sometimes hostile.\u201d<\/p>\n
During cross-examination, Jones\u2019 barrister Gabrielle Bashir, SC \u2013 who told the court in her opening remarks four weeks ago that \u201crivalry, treachery, double dealing, money, hatred, desperation, opportunism and more\u201d was at the heart of the case \u2013 read a text message from Hadley calling Jones a \u201cparasite\u201d.<\/p>\n
It seemed almost polite compared to the other name-calling that was aired \u2013 turning the courtroom into an impromptu and darkly twisted Comedy Central Roast.<\/p>\n
\u201cThroughout 2019 you regularly called Mr Jones a grub?\u201d Bashir asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, I did,\u201d Hadley said.<\/p>\n
Bashir read out a text message Hadley sent Complainant C about a subsequent news article that was published in the Sydney Morning Herald: \u201cJones outed as an (sic) f***ot\u201d.<\/p>\n
Jones \u2013 who rarely flinched, even upon hearing the most shocking allegations \u2013 lifted his glance, stared down his nose and shook his head before jotting some notes with his gold pen.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t usually use that word,\u201d Hadley stumbled to assure the court about his use of the homophobic slur.<\/p>\n
The court heard Hadley had his text messages subpoenaed but was not able to supply them because, he said, he returned his phone to 2GB when he retired. When he was provided the messages between himself and Complainant C, printed out on A4 computer paper, it took a while for the retiree to work out who the blue and white text bubbles belonged to in the message thread.<\/p>\n
Another text was read: \u201cThat c*** will be in the foetal position when he reads the story in the morning, it\u2019s been 50 years in the making.\u201d<\/p>\n
And another: \u201cThis bloke needs to be destroyed\u201d.<\/p>\n
And another: \u201cI won\u2019t rest until we bury him figuratively speaking or literally.\u201d<\/p>\n
Throughout cross-examination, Bashir suggested Hadley was \u201cgrafting\u201d details into his evidence to match the crown case and was willing to \u201ctailor\u201d his evidence to damage the defendant.<\/p>\n
\u201cI reject that,\u201d Hadley said.<\/p>\n
The court heard Hadley signed a contract in 2018 to take over Jones\u2019 breakfast slot at the end of the financial year for $4 million – double the salary he was paid to host the 9am morning show.<\/p>\n
Hadley recalled then-station owner John Singleton saying he had \u201chad enough\u201d of Mr Jones, who had cost the station between $7 million and $10 million and whose various controversies had allegedly seen a decline in advertiser support.<\/p>\n
Bashir described it as a \u201csecret contract\u201d. But the deal fell through. Before Hadley could take the breakfast show throne, Singleton sold his stake to Nine Entertainment, and Nine\u2019s then-chairman Peter Costello insisted Jones remain in the prime slot.<\/p>\n
Bashir posed to Hadley that he held an at-all-cost dream of taking the slot from his rival. She suggested Jones had a larger listenership and Hadley relied on his enemy\u2019s strong lead-in audience for the morning show to be a success.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s this remark that seemingly jolted the bolshy broadcaster out of his \u201cyes ma\u2019am, no ma\u2019am\u201d responses. He fired up like Bashir was a talk-back radio caller whose opinion he really did not wish to have on the airwaves.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet me assure you … the idea of getting out of bed at 1am was not attractive. Doubling my salary was,\u201d Hadley stated.<\/p>\n
He told the court he had no problems staying in the morning slot when management agreed to still honour the $4 million salary he\u2019d signed.<\/p>\n
Bashir suggested he\u2019d been telling people at the time that he was taking over the breakfast show.<\/p>\n
\u201cI deny that vehemently,\u201d Hadley stated.<\/p>\n
What followed was an anecdote about former 2GB host Chris Smith ambushing Hadley in the studio bathrooms after hearing rumours the latter was taking over Jones\u2019 slot. Hadley recalled Smith inspecting all the toilet stalls to make sure no one was eavesdropping before asking for help securing the morning slot Hadley was vacating.<\/p>\n
The vivid scene painted a picture of the drama and workplace politics that swirled inside the radio station.<\/p>\n
As Bashir and Hadley ping-ponged back and forth about whether Hadley had been on a mission to take the breakfast crown, the exchange suddenly spiralled when the broadcaster made a peculiar facial expression.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you just wink at the DPP [Director of Public Prosecutions]?\u201d Bashir interrupted.<\/p>\n
It was the kind of moment that would prompt a collective gasp in a cartoon courtroom.<\/p>\n
Prosecutor Georgina Wright, SC, rushed to interrupt the commotion: Hadley did not wink at the DPP. <\/p>\n
The broadcaster stumbled to say he winked at a journalist down the back of the room. Not much better.<\/p>\n
More frantic explaining: He was winking at a journalist who called him \u201cscruffy\u201d in a news report, he seemed to say – but Bashir latched onto the idea that a member of the media may have called Hadley on the phone and the court was thrown into a moment of chaos over the potential scenario of a journalist contacting a witness in the middle of giving evidence.<\/p>\n
Judge Walsh appeared to lose his patience. <\/p>\n
\u201cI would like to know the substance of the telephone call you received yesterday,\u201d he said, ordering the sheriff to investigate the matter that could\u2019ve possibly led to contempt of court, though it was eventually smoothed over, after the court heard no-one had engaged in any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
All eyes, at least for a second, were not on Alan Jones. And amid the disordered mayhem, he seemed to relax.<\/p>\n
DOUBLE AGENTS<\/p>\n
Just hours before Hadley took the stand this week, the court heard from former 2GB producer James Willis who described the tension between the two warring broadcasters as a \u201cfierce rivalry\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr Willis had assured me that Jones had marshalled the troops to dig some dirt up on Hadley,\u201d Hadley told the court, referring to allegations he assaulted a colleague in a corridor.<\/p>\n
(CCTV later cleared him of the claims.)<\/p>\n
Hadley believed he\u2019d been \u201ctargeted\u201d by Jones after word got out about the \u201csecret contract\u201d to take over the breakfast show. Earlier, the court was told Willis had sent Jones a text message saying it was \u201cobvious\u201d Hadley thought he\u2019d be taking over the breakfast slot.<\/p>\n
On the stand, Hadley described Willis as a \u201cdouble agent\u201d who was \u201ctelling Mr Jones what he wanted to hear\u201d.<\/p>\n
When Hadley\u2019s personal text messages with Jones were read out, it seemed both powerful broadcasters were playing double agents with each other. And both men, who\u2019d spent decades controlling exactly what went to air, were now having their own private words amplified in a voice not their own. <\/p>\n
On November 17 2019, Jones messaged Hadley to wish the host and his wife \u201cgood health\u201d.<\/p>\n
Another time, Hadley messaged a then-sick Jones: \u201cYou know I love you. … Above ground, I mean.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bashir questioned the authenticity of Hadley\u2019s well wishes.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said I love you … that was rubbish, wasn\u2019t it?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t want him to die,\u201d Hadley said.<\/p>\n
In his final minutes on the stand, while being re-examined by Prosecutor Wright, Hadley gave one final insight into the ups and downs between himself and his longtime frenemy.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur relationship was very complicated,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe went from being very close to very distant. Much of my success as a broadcaster was due to Mr Jones. He was gracious, and I returned it, and I meant it. I was appreciative for what he did for me as a broadcaster.\u201d<\/p>\n
And with that, Hadley relinquished the microphone. Jones stared at the floor.<\/p>\n
The trial continues.<\/p>\n