Guy Sebastian’s former manager Titus Day has admitted failing to pass on money owed to the Australian singer, bringing an extraordinary end to a legal battle that has dragged on for almost a decade.
Day issued an apology on Wednesday as the former friends reached a confidential out-of-court settlement, with Sebastian agreeing to discontinue his long-running civil claim.
The dispute dates back to the breakdown of their professional relationship in 2017, after Day had managed Sebastian for more than a decade.
In a statement released following the settlement, Day acknowledged making a series of poor decisions while overseeing the singer’s finances.
“Looking back on the latter half of the time when I was managing Guy’s career, I can see that I had become a poor steward of Guy’s income,” Day said.
“There were many instances in which payments that should have been passed on to Guy, were not.”
Day accepted responsibility for his management company failing to properly account for and forward the money, apologising for the impact on Sebastian and his family.
Sebastian, 44, expressed relief that the long-running dispute had finally come to an end.
“I’m just happy it’s over. It’s been pretty full-on,” he told 7NEWS following the settlement.
“He’s apologised and taken some accountability and now we just move on.”
The settlement closes a complicated legal saga that began when Sebastian launched civil proceedings in 2018 seeking to recover money he alleged was owed to him.
Day was arrested in 2020 and subsequently convicted in 2022 of embezzling about $600,000 from Sebastian. He was sentenced to four years in prison and served seven months before being released on bail while appealing his convictions.
Those convictions were later quashed after the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal found there had been a miscarriage of justice, and a retrial was ordered.
At the retrial, Day was acquitted of four charges while the jury was unable to reach verdicts on the remaining charges. Prosecutors ultimately decided not to pursue a third trial.
Day has now also acknowledged that Sebastian had previously attempted to settle their dispute on terms his own lawyer described as “incredibly fair”.
“I would do things differently if I had my time again,” Day said.
Sebastian said Day’s acceptance of responsibility had allowed him to finally put the matter behind him.
“With the accountability shown and the apology Mr Day has provided in his statement, I am prepared to put aside my claim against him, forgive, and move forward,” he said.
The singer also thanked his family, friends and legal team for supporting him throughout the ordeal, admitting he could never have anticipated how long and complicated the dispute would become.
“I know this impacted a lot of people, but I believed it was something I couldn’t walk away from,” Sebastian said.
“I never could have imagined the twists and turns this ordeal would take.”
For Sebastian, the settlement means a dispute that has occupied almost nine years of his life can finally be left behind.
“I’ve discontinued my claim and I’ve sort of forgiven him,” he told 7NEWS, “but I have no interest in it occupying my mind for too much longer.”
Image: SBS
