The Australian singer and his former manager have ended their long-running financial dispute with a confidential settlement. Day has admitted that money owed to Sebastian was not passed on and has apologised
The nearly decade-long legal battle between Guy Sebastian and his former manager Titus Day has come to an end.
The pair have reached a confidential settlement, bringing to a close the dispute that began after their professional relationship ended in 2017.
In a statement issued following the agreement, Day acknowledged that he made a series of mistakes during the eleven-and-a-half years he managed Sebastian and admitted that, on a number of occasions, money that should have been passed on to the singer was not.
“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.
He also acknowledged that his company continued to receive some income after Sebastian left his management company in 2017.
Apology to Sebastian and his family
Day accepted responsibility for his failings and apologised to Sebastian and his family.
He said those decisions had serious and regrettable consequences and admitted that, if he could go back, he would have handled the situation differently.
In the same statement, Day also acknowledged that Sebastian had previously attempted to settle the dispute on terms he described as “incredibly fair”.
A long and complicated legal battle
The professional relationship between the pair ended in 2017 following a financial dispute.
Sebastian later launched legal proceedings in an attempt to recover money he believed was owed to him.
In 2022, Day was sentenced to four years in prison after being convicted of embezzling about $600,000 from Sebastian between 2013 and 2020.
Those convictions were later quashed on appeal.
A retrial was ordered and, last year, a jury acquitted Day of four charges but was unable to reach a verdict on the remaining counts.
The new civil settlement now ends the private dispute between the two men.
Sebastian: “I am prepared to forgive and move forward”
Guy Sebastian also issued a statement, thanking his family, friends and legal team for supporting him throughout the years-long ordeal.
The singer said he could never have imagined the twists and turns the case would take.
“I know this impacted a lot of people, but I believed it was something I couldn’t walk away from,” Sebastian said.
He added that, following Day’s acceptance of responsibility and apology, he was prepared to put aside his claim, forgive and move forward.
“A private resolution was always preferred”
Sebastian’s lawyer, Mark Faraday, said Day’s statement contained a clear apology, an acceptance of responsibility and an acknowledgement that payments owed to Sebastian were not passed on.
Faraday said his client had been willing to resolve the dispute privately from an early stage and had previously offered what Day himself later described as very fair terms.
The settlement brings to an end one of the longest and most complex legal disputes of Sebastian’s career.
For the singer, however, the outcome appears to mean more than a legal resolution.
After years of trials, appeals and public scrutiny, Sebastian says he is now ready to leave the dispute behind and move forward.