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Cross-examination of Ray Hadley resumes at Alan Jones’s trial
Posted Thu 3 Sep 2026 at 10:07amThu 3 Sep 2026 at 10:07amThu 3 Sep 2026 at 10:07am, updated Thu 3 Sep 2026 at 10:07amThu 3 Sep 2026 at 10:07amThu 3 Sep 2026 at 10:07am
In short:
Retired 2GB host Ray Hadley returned to the witness box on Thursday, for Alan Jones’s indecent assault and sexual touching trial.
On Wednesday during cross-examination, Mr Hadley did not refute the defence’s suggestion that he “harboured animosity towards Mr Jones”.
Mr Jones denies all allegations against him, with the trial continuing.
Former radio host Ray Hadley has returned for a third day to Alan Jones’s indecent assault and sexual touching trial, which has been examining the pair’s “tumultuous” relationship.
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Thu 3 Sep 2026 at 10:43amThu 3 Sep 2026 at 10:43am
‘Very complicated’ relationship
Mr Hadley said his relationship with Mr Jones was “very complicated”.
“Much of my success as a broadcaster was due to Mr Jones,” he said.
“We were both under tremendous pressure constantly to deliver and as a result it was a tumultuous relationship … Sometimes friendly, and sometime hostile.”
Ms Wright has taken Mr Hadley back to a number of messages he sent Complainant C about Mr Jones around October 2019.
The court heard in one message, Mr Hadley called Mr Jones a homophobic slur.
Mr Hadley said he did not recall the context in which he used the slur.
Ms Bashir yesterday put to Mr Hadley that he “harboured animosity” towards Mr Jones around that time.
Ms Wright this morning asked Mr Hadley why he felt that way about Mr Jones.
Mr Hadley said he thought Mr Jones was “targeting” him because he thought he was “disloyal” for signing a contract which would see Mr Hadley replace his counterpart as 2GB breakfast show host in July 2019.
The deal never eventuated, and Mr Jones re-signed as presenter in May 2019.
Ms Bashir has finished her cross-examination.
It’s now prosecutor Georgina Wright SC’s turn to re-examine Mr Hadley.
Defence barrister Gabrielle Bashir SC has been asking Mr Hadley about various phone calls he had with author Peter FitzSimons around the time Complainant C told Mr Hadley about Mr Jones’s alleged offending.
Ms Bashir put to Mr Hadley that those calls were discussing what else could be said about the allegations against Mr Jones.
Mr Hadley said he could not recall the conversation.
He rejected the suggestion that he had not been truthful about his account of his discussions with Complainant C.
Retired radio host Ray Hadley is back in the witness box for a third day of questioning at Alan Jones’s indecent assault and sexual touching trial.
We will bring you updates from the proceedings throughout the day.
Mr Jones, 85, has pleaded not guilty to all 22 charges against him, which relate to six alleged victims.
One of the alleged victims, Complainant C, accused Mr Jones of kissing him in a work lift and touching his crotch several times in 2008, with the trial hearing he confided in Mr Hadley about the allegations a decade later.
Much of the cross-examination by defence barrister Gabrielle Bashir SC has focused on events in 2018 and 2019, during which time Mr Hadley said he signed a contract with a $4 million salary to takeover the breakfast show at 2GB from Mr Jones.
During that time, Mr Hadley referred to Mr Jones as “a parasite”, a homophobic slur, and someone who “needs to be destroyed” in various text messages examined in court.
Meanwhile, Mr Hadley said a 2GB colleague, who he described as a “double agent” told him Mr Jones requested that his staff “dig up dirt on Hadley”.
Mr Jones ultimately re-signed as breakfast show host, before he left 2GB in 2020.
Mr Hadley described his relationship with Mr Jones as “tumultuous” and did not refute Ms Bashir’s suggestion that he “harboured animosity towards Mr Jones”.
“I wasn’t happy with him,” Mr Hadley said.
Allegations concerning Mr Jones were first published by Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) investigative journalist Kate McClymont in December 2023.
The court heard Mr Hadley described the article as being “50 years in the making” in a text message to Complainant C.
“That c*** will be in the foetal position when he reads the story in the morning,” he said in the message.
Mr Hadley denied suggestions he had a vested interest in the outcome of Mr Jones’s case.
He also rejected the suggestion that he pushed Complainant C to make his allegations in a bid to have Mr Jones dropped from the breakfast program.
Mr Jones’s trial is now in its fourth week.