‘I’d been targeted by Mr Jones’: Hadley’s parting evidence in Sydney court

Former 2GB heavyweight Ray Hadley has told a court he believed Alan Jones was targeting him after he signed a secret contract to take over Jones’ breakfast radio slot.

Hadley concluded his testimony on Thursday in Jones’ indecent assault and sexual touching trial with evidence about his “tumultuous” relationship with his long-time 2GB colleague.

“Our relationship was very complicated,” he told the Downing Centre Local Court. “We went from being very close to being very distant.”

Hadley said that he credited much of his professional success to Jones, and he was “appreciative for what he did for me as a broadcaster”. But the pair had also had “stand-up brawls”, he said.

Asked why he may have harboured animosity towards Jones as at October 2019, Hadley said that “I’d been targeted by Mr Jones when he found out that I’d signed a contract [in December 2018] to take his position, even though I never took his position.”

Hadley told the court he surmised that Jones felt he was disloyal for signing that contract. He had previously given evidence that a 2GB staffer had told him that Jones had “marshalled the troops and said, ‘dig up some dirt on Hadley’.”

Hadley revealed during his cross-examination on Wednesday that he had inked a “secret” contract in December 2018 to take over Jones’ breakfast slot from July 2019. The deal did not proceed, but he told the court he insisted 2GB honour the promised doubling of his salary to $4 million.

At the conclusion of his cross-examination on Thursday, Hadley rejected a suggestion by Jones’ barrister that he had given untruthful evidence about a meeting he said he had in 2019 with complainant “C”, one of six men who has accused Jones of unwanted kissing and touching.

Jones, 85, is standing trial on 20 counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual touching without consent relating to six male complainants. Of the 22 charges, eight relate to “C”. Jones denies any of the alleged physical acts occurred.

Hadley told the court that “C” confided in him in October 2019 that Jones had “put his hand on my c--- and kissed me” on a number of occasions some years earlier.

After the cross-examination concluded, prosecutor Georgina Wright, SC, asked Hadley a series of questions in re-examination, including about explosive text messages aired in court on Wednesday .

Asked why he said in a text to complainant “C” in October 2019 that Jones “needs to be destroyed”, Hadley said this was “for what he did” to the complainant.

“I said I’d stick by him, and I’d support him in every way, no matter what course of action he decided to take, and that’s why I’m here today,” Hadley said.

On Wednesday, the court heard that Hadley had not produced to the court any text messages between him and “C” after being subpoenaed for the communications.