Revealed: The gold-plated sticking point in Sandilands’ multimillion-dollar radio settlement

Kyle Sandilands has settled his wrongful termination claim against his former employer ARN for $12.09 million in cash and $1.5 million worth of advertising support. But there’s a sweetener for the former shock jock: CBD can reveal the settlement deal also included who would retain ownership of Sandilands’ famous golden – actually gold-plated – microphone.

This Kyle & Jackie O Show relic, we are reliably told, is valued at a mere $1500.

But the modest value did not stop it becoming the subject of a tussle between the media business and the controversial radio star.

The microphone he used on his now defunct KIIS FM show was the subject of much mirth when Karl Stefanovic and Eddie McGuire launched their new show, The Long Weekend, on Gold FM, a stablemate of KIIS FM under the ARN umbrella, on Friday afternoon.

Stefanovic joked he had hoped he would be using a gold microphone for his entry into radio, and show anchor Toni Tenaglia quipped there was “one in the building”.

But CBD hears that the garish golden relic won’t be in ARN hands for much longer.

While Sandilands hasn’t got the mic in his possession yet, it is expected to be in his trophy cabinet as early as next week. CBD is looking forward to receiving our proof-of-life picture.

Sandilands and ARN officially announced they had settled their dispute on Wednesday, with ARN agreeing to pay the radio identity $12 million cash and to help him launch a new media product.

That proposed show, with the working title of Kyle Sandilands Live, is expected to take the form of an online subscription-driven show that will be “uncensored” and will be live five days a week as a 6am breakfast product.

It is unlikely Sandilands will have an official co-host with him on his new project. More likely, CBD hears, is that he will build a team around him composed of some former staff from The Kyle & Jackie O Show and could use them as characters and foils. When Sandilands will launch his new media offering is still to be determined, although it could be as early as August.

Weather warning: Bunn urges fans to ignore sloppy scam ads

Sunny Melbourne meteorologist Jane Bunn has urged her fans to ignore screwy scam ads featuring sloppy AI versions of her that have infested Facebook.

The Channel Seven weather presenter joins the likes of billionaire businessman Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest, finance guy David Koch, Sunrise host Natalie Barr, sequin queen Sonia Kruger and red carpet stalwart Richard Wilkins as high-profile Australians to have their likeness co-opted in bogus ads in which they are supposedly endorsing products or services.

In Bunn’s case, the scam ads purport to show the precipitation prophet in a random kitchen bizarrely holding up a tatty pair of oversized track pants and, in another version of the ad, flogging unappealing purple-branded weight loss supplements. The fakes started popping on social media last month.

When contacted by CBD, Bunn, who has streamlined her figure over the past year, said she was aware of the scam ads and urged people to ignore them.

“I laughed the first time a friend sent that to me,” she told CBD. “I mean, it’s clearly not me – that’s a man’s arm.

“It’s a timely reminder that a lot of what we see on social media now isn’t actually real. It’s amazing what AI can create.”

While Bunn is warning her followers not to fall victim to the fakes, Forrest has been engaged in a protracted and expensive stoush with Meta, the owner of Facebook, for not stamping out scam ads.

Last month it was reported he was asking a US federal court in Silicon Valley to hold Meta accountable for scam ads using his likeness without permission.

US star’s surprise Melbourne gig after tour cancellation

When US singer Stephen Sanchez said he was sitting at an airport as he typed a note to his online followers explaining the cancellation of his Australian tour, we had to wonder which airport he was in.

Sanchez, best known for his hit Until I Found You – a sappy wedding classic – quietly slipped into Melbourne last week and was the surprise performer at a glitzy private gala hosted by upmarket jewellery brand Cartier at the NGV on Sunday.

Few knew Sanchez was in town until footage of him crooning and swooning at the ultra-swish do popped up on social media on Monday. This no doubt set off a few of his fans, given his Australian tour, organised by Frontier Touring, which was to take place in July, had been cancelled just days earlier.

Those diehards had every reason to be a bit confused. There was barely a blip in the media until Sanchez posted his long, sad message to Instagram on Tuesday explaining why the pin had been pulled on his shows.

“I am sitting in an airport trying to express feelings that need so much context and so much detail for everyone to understand in full,” he posted.

“The cancellation of the NZ/AU tour without explanation has left some of you with questions and I imagine some frustrated feelings as well.”

He went on to hit out at the current pornographic nature of the music scene and the pressure on performers to splash themselves across social media and said he was stepping back to find “purpose in making music again”.

At least he got one last trip Down Under for a corporate gig before his self-imposed break.