Thursday 19 May 2022 03:07 AM Guy Sebastian said Westlife singer Shane Filan's audience was full of 'fat ... trends now
Guy Sebastian had been reluctant to support boy band star Shane Filan on a tour of the United Kingdom because the Westlife singer's audience would be full of 'fat older feral women'.
Sebastian had been worried his appearance on the tour would not be 'the right fit' for his style of music and the Irish singer's type of fans.
The Australian Idol winner is giving evidence at the trial of his long-time agent Titus Day, who is accused of embezzling him out of almost $900,000. Day denies all the allegations against him.
Sebastian told the Downing Centre District Court in Sydney on Thursday he had agreed to support Filan on his UK tour in 2017 after expressing serious reservations to his manager.
Guy Sebastian had been reluctant to support boy band star Shane Filan on a United Kingdom tour because the Westlife singer's audience would be full of 'fat, older feral women'. He is pictured with wife Jules
Sebastian had been worried his appearance on Shane Filan's UK tour would not be 'the right fit' for his style of music and the Irish singer's type of fans. Filan is pictured performing in 2019
In an email on May 16, 2017 he wrote to Day: 'I'm not trying to be choosy but it's a big investment and talking to Sammy who did a similar tour she said it was all fat older feral women.'
Sebastian said the words 'fat older feral women' had subsequently been removed from his original email in a reply from Day and regretted he had used them.
'I said something which wasn't great, something about feral old women or something,' he said.
'I did say that but it disappeared in Mr Day's response to me. He in fact took it out.' Sebastian later said, 'obviously it's not something I'm proud of saying'.
Sebastian has previously told the court it had been 'quite a contentious point' between him and Day that he 'wasn't really getting any opportunities' to perform overseas.
'I was seeing other artists get some opportunities and I wanted to see my management trying their hardest,' he said on Wednesday.
'At the time we were both acknowledging our relationship was on tenterhooks.'
Titus Day has pleaded not guilty to 50 charges of embezzlement as a clerk or servant, and 50 alternative counts of stealing. He managed Guy Sebastian for a decade before the pair split acrimoniously
Filan was one of the two lead singers of Westlife, among the biggest boybands of all time, and went on to have a successful career as a solo artist.
Sebastian had agreed to tour with Filan to increase his exposure to the UK market ahead of hopes he would release an album there. He was not going to be paid for his performances.
Before committing to the concerts Sebastian expressed reservations about whether it was something he should do.
'I had some questions obviously when it was presented to me,' he said on Thursday. 'Whether it was the right tour and the right fit.'
At the time Sebastian was making 'very electronic' music which he thought might not go down well with Filan's audience - 'Mr Filan being an ex-boy band member'.
'I thought I would stick out compared to the main show,' he said.
Sebastian had planned not to complete the full tour as he would be attending his brother's wedding. 'There were some shows I was going to miss,' he said.
Sebastian has denied he would ever have deliberately failed to tell his agent about a paid performance to deny him his 20 per cent commission
In the end, Sebastian played only about half the booked performances, returning to Australia and leaving another support singer, Matt Gresham, to take his slot on the tour.
'There was a lot of reason for why I chose to go
