Staff split over Ray Hadley bullying allegations at 2GB

Talkback host Ray Hadley’s self-confessed “volatile” staff-management style is under scrutiny as a wave of complaints emerge about his alleged bullying and verbal abuse of colleagues dating back two decades.

• Shock jock Ray Hadley apologises after bullying claim
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Sydney radio’s biggest star, Ray Hadley, is a volatile man who takes no prisoners and suffers no fools, by his own admission.

Now his personal brand of staff management is facing a reckoning in the most public way for Hadley’s employer, 2GB, as a wave of complaints emerge about his alleged bullying and verbal abuse of colleagues dating back two decades.

Hadley himself is in hospital, once again dealing with the shockingly painful intestinal ailment that has plagued him for several years.

“I am suffering the effects of diverticulitis. That’s a battle for me regularly. I’m waiting to see a specialist,” he said via text.

Ray Hadley has been hit with allegations of bullying in the workplace. Picture: Tim Hunter

Asked about the fact several former employees have taken to social media to accuse him of bullying, Hadley, by text, said: “It’s really not the time for me to talk about it.”

Station chief executive Adam Lang emailed radio staff on Friday to thank them for supporting Hadley during a “remarkable week” of “challenges” in which the company had become a “spectacle”.

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“This has been another remarkable week and the challenges have included some very human topics,” Lang wrote to staff.

“We have had the historic workplace behaviour of our company in Sydney made a spectacle on social media and, then, the broader media. I am very grateful to all of the staff who have made their support known to me and directly to Ray Hadley.”

The email capped a week in which another member of Hadley’s team took stress leave after allegedly being repeatedly subjected to what another staff member called “vicious sprays” over years.

The Sunday Telegraph has spoken to a number of Hadley’s former colleagues who claim Hadley has a history of demoralising verbal attacks and outbursts that went virtually unchecked by 2GB management from 2001 — the year Hadley joined the radio station after it was bought by businessman John Singleton.

Ray Hadley and John Singleton. Picture: James Croucher

Radio insiders point to 2GB’s recent change of ownership as catalyst for the outpouring of claims. Media company Nine acquired 54.5 per cent of 2GB parent company Macquarie Media in its merger with Fairfax last year.

Earlier this week Hadley apologised to former panel operator Chris Bowen, who had accused Hadley of bullying, but implied Bowen’s own personal struggles were the cause of their clashes, describing Bowen as “a young bloke, full of cheek and full of ability, through our years together we became very close — probably more like a father and son relationship”.

“Given what he had to deal with personally I tried as best I could to help him through some very difficult situations,” he said.

“At times our relationship could be volatile, he would go off and so could I.”

Hadley said he was MC at Bowen’s wedding and had “tried to help him as much as I could”. “I am regretful I wasn’t more supportive. I am sorry for any hurt I have caused him,” he said on air.

Hadley apologised to his former panel operator Chris Bowen (left), who accused him of bullying.

Bowen is understood to be among a group of Hadley’s former colleagues who have participated in a story for ABC TV’s 7.30 program, expected to air this week.

A former 2GB executive confirmed to The Sunday Telegraph that there has long been an issue at the radio station as a consequence of Hadley’s close relationship to “Singo”, and the fact the station “never wanted an HR department — not ever. They finally set one up a few years ago to protect themselves legally after a case got them into deep water,” the former executive said.

That is believed to be the case involving website manager Richard Palmer, who recorded a tirade from Hadley on his phone in February 2013. The case settled out of court.

Another ex-2GB employee claimed it was a hallmark of Hadley’s behaviour to have a third party in the room while he was blowing up at staff to ensure there was a witness to verify what had occurred.

Hadley (middle) with Steve Roach (left) and Darryl Brohman, who worked to worked together on 2GB as the Continuous Call Team.

The list of colleagues who have fallen out with Hadley is long and predates his employment at 2GB, starting in the decade prior while Hadley was still a rugby league caller — and understudy to John Laws — at rival station 2UE.

It includes former 2GB news director Justin Kelly (who was blasted by Hadley as a “f**king spastic” in 2014 after a member of Kelly’s newsroom staff failed to top a news break with a call from Hadley), rugby league commentators John Gibbs, Andrew Moore, Andrew Voss and Steve “Blocker” Roach and some women — two in recent years — who have now left 2GB.

One woman, who quit in 2017, claimed she had regularly been in tears for the first six months of her employment, thanks in part to Hadley’s volatility.

The same woman claimed a senior staffer observed the shouting but did nothing.

The decision by management to extend Hadley’s five-year contract to 2025, as announced by Hadley at Christmas, has been interpreted by some at 2GB as evidence his power at the station is on the rise following the record court-ordered $3.7 million defamation payout awarded to Queensland’s Wagner family against breakfast host Alan Jones in September.