An email was sent to staff explaining Hadley would be off the air for the rest of the week.

The secret recording of Hadley's bullying is understood to have disgusted Mr Loewenthal so much that he suspended Hadley on Tuesday, February 12.

Mr Palmer has declined to comment on the incident, including for this story, and neither Hadley nor Macquarie Radio Network's managing director, Rob Loewenthal, responded to calls or emails about the recording.

The top-rating radio host was angry because Mr Palmer had not uploaded a podcast of The Ray Hadley Morning Show quickly enough onto 2GB's website.

But, instead of accepting his punishment, Hadley called his friend Mr Singleton and, following his intervention, Hadley continued broadcasting.

The next morning, he told his listeners: ''Before we get down to business, there's a story on the front page of the Telegraph today about me … Sometimes in the hurly-burly of life of radio, just like other organisations and families, people have disagreements. It's part of life. The relationship between myself and the executives of this station will always survive any disagreement we might have … So let's get back to business''.

On February 14, Fairfax Media revealed the story involving Hadley's call to Mr Singleton and the majority owner overruling his managing director. Then, at 12.15pm on February 15, 2GB staff gathered in the boardroom to hear Hadley apologise for the bullying.

''Nobody expected that,'' an employee, who witnessed the apology, said. ''He'd kind of fobbed the story off on air and there was nothing more to it. It took a few people by surprise but I think there was a bit of closure, at least for the company, after he did that. He genuinely looked pretty rattled by it. You could tell from his demeanour … and his mouth was quite dry as well.