Annette Sharp: Court case exposes Guy Sebastian’s mighty earnings

Locked in a legal stoush with his former manager Titus Day no one could have expected the true monetary might of Guy Sebastian when laid bare in a courtroom this week, writes Annette Sharp.

The dispute between Guy Sebastian and his former manager Titus Day has exposed the colossal earning power of Australian Idol’s highest profile alumni and the staggering prices Sebastian today commands as a wedding singer.

Sebastian has amassed a multimillion-dollar fortune in the 19 years since his triumphant 2003 first season turn on Channel 10’s redundant TV reality show.

While the exact size of Sebastian’s fortune remains a mystery, the singer, along with fellow Idol discovery Jessica Mauboy, top a list of Idol artists who have parlayed their 15 minutes of fame into lucrative careers thanks in part to their affiliation with record company Sony Music, and in part to seasoned managers who have secured for them high profile contracts on programs like The Voice and X Factor.

Also still riding the Idol wave more than a decade later are Anthony Callea, Rob Mills,
Damien Leith, Ricki Lee Coulter, Matt Corby, Casey Donovan and Shannon Noll.

Sebastian’s fortune, and his former manager’s right to a slice of it, are now before the court after the Crown charged Day with defrauding his “foundation client”, Sebastian, during a decade-long relationship.

Sebastian’s former manager, Titus Day leaves Downing Centre Court. Picture: Jeremy Piper

Guy Sebastian arrives at the Downing Centre in Sydney. Picture: Christian Gilles

Day has pleaded not guilty to 50 charges of embezzlement with his defence barrister Dominic Toomey SC informing the court in his opening address last week that Day had an answer to every charge.

In records tendered to the District Court it emerged that while Sebastian’s rate for a Taylor Swift support gig in 2013 was an eye-popping $494,360, by 2017 he was commanding a standard $66,000 fee for corporate appearances while charging $54,000 to sing at weddings, that fee cited as his payment for singing at a Jakarta wedding.

Guy Sebastian at Hamilton Island in 2017, the year he was booked to a $66k gig. Picture: Facebook

His fee for a second wedding that year was not disclosed. Corporate clients lining up in 2017 to hand over $66,000 to hear Sebastian sing hits like Battle Scars included furniture retailer Harvey Norman, McDonalds, Helloworld Travel and an unidentified client who booked Sebastian to appear at Hamilton Island.

The going rate for Sebastian’s band, Crown prosecutor David Morters SC noted, was $600 for each of seven band members.

Addressing the jury and a gallery including Sebastian’s latest manager Jennifer Fontaine and his publicist Angela Ceberano, the Crown prosecutor touched briefly on a list of performance fees and payments detailed in affidavits previously filed to the Federal Court as part of a civil case between the two warring parties.

Among these were the singer’s six-year endorsement deal with Toyota that entitled him to two cars – a Land Cruiser for him and a Prado for his wife Jules, a blogger – a deal with audio company Bose which brought in $82,500 and furnished Sebastian with a PA, headphones, speakers and amplifiers, and an association with Bluefin Boats that came about after Sebastian called the company directly after observing they were staging a festival.

Sebastian with his sons Hudson and Archer in front of a Toyota Prado in 2020. Picture: Instagram

Guy Sebastian playing a baby grand piano at his luxurious Maroubra mansion. Picture: Instagram

“Instead of buying a boat, you perform and you’ll get a boat,” was how Sebastian recalled the negotiation with Bluefin going, though he added the association proved “ … a bit of a painful one in the end”.

There was also a $74,000 deal with Air Asia that included free flights, an association with Canon which provided him with “contra”, presumably cameras, and another deal with music equipment supplier Yamaha who he admitted he approached to asked if they might supply him with a motor for his boat.

Also briefly referenced were ongoing royalty payments from Warner Music, one of which was for $62,490 in 2013, a performance booked by Harbour Agency that brought in $49,114, and a series of performances for Myer, Dreamworld, a British Lions Tour appearance at Allianz Stadium worth $50,000 and a Big Bash League cricket game in Melbourne.

Guy Sebastian performs on stage at Sydney's ICC for his national T.R.U.T.H tour. Picture Glen Pokorny

All in all, it wasn’t hard to see how it is Sebastian and his wife – his annual million dollar TV contract on The Voice notwithstanding – have been able to afford to finance the construction of an impressive mansion at Maroubra and buy and renovate an oceanfront home on Seven Mile Beach at Gerroa.

Sebastian, 40, twice on his first day on the stand admitted he wasn’t intimately familiar with the details of the contracts he signs.

He confirmed he hadn’t read a 2009 contract relating to trailing commissions – moneys paid after a management relationship ends – and had no memory of signing a contract with Premier Music.

The five week trial has been adjourned until May 17 due to the illness of judge Peter Zahra while on Thursday afternoon Sebastian claimed – after spending the morning at court and much of it in a cupboard-sized interview room with a clutch of supporters including Rebecca Oxenbould, the manager of his foundation – he’d contracted Covid, prompting the postponement of a concert tour next week.