Talkback radio host Ray Hadley used a homophobic slur against his rival Alan Jones in text messages, a Sydney court was told on Wednesday. Hadley, a host at radio station 2GB, also claimed Jones had been "outed" in texts exchanged with a former staffer.
Jones, 85, is currently on trial after pleading not guilty to 22 charges including indecent assault and sexual touching without consent, alleged to have occurred between 2003 and 2020 against six men. One of the complainants is a former radio staffer who alleges Jones subjected him to repeated non-consensual sexual contact over five months.
Gabrielle Bashir SC, Jones's barrister, questioned Hadley about text messages exchanged with the staffer. She asked if Hadley had written, "Jones outed as a f****t" in a text message sent around the time the staffer disclosed the alleged assaults. Hadley responded, "It appears to be the case, yes," and accepted he had written the word, though he maintained it was not one he typically used.
Hadley acknowledged he had not provided copies of his text messages to the court, despite a subpoena. The text messages were produced by the complainant. When pressed about harboring animosity towards Jones at the time of the staffer's report, Hadley stated he likely did. "I wasn't happy with him," he told the court.
The court heard the slur emerged after a confrontation between Hadley and Jones, who were colleagues at 2GB. Hadley testified that he had been informed he was accused of assaulting a co-worker, but CCTV footage reportedly cleared him. He rejected a suggestion that he had assumed Jones was involved in fabricating this allegation, stating a colleague assured him Jones had instructed others to "dig up some dirt on Hadley."
Hadley also admitted to police that he had stormed into Jones's office and called him a "dog and a c***," characterizing this behavior as "advice" about his rival's work. This occurred after Hadley was reportedly set to take over the breakfast show from Jones. Hadley stated he had signed a contract worth $4 million for the role, but it was later torn up when the chairman of Nine, 2GB's owner, insisted Jones be reinstated as the breakfast host. "Inadvertently, Mr Jones had doubled my salary for doing the same job," Hadley told the court, adding that he was not bitter.
Jones's legal team has suggested that professional rivalry is central to the case against him. Bashir SC suggested Hadley intended to damage Jones and encouraged the radio staffer to file a complaint. The radio staffer strongly denied fabricating the claims or coming forward to benefit Hadley, insisting he did not view the two radio hosts as rivals.
Jones, who had a long and dominant career in Sydney radio, has denied all charges. His career spanned 35 years, during which he won the breakfast slot a record 226 times and also had national broadcasting roles on television programs like Nine's Today show and Sky News.
