Ben Lee reveals DMs with Guy Sebastian over vaccination controversy

Ben Lee was one of many to publicly criticise Guy Sebastian’s vaccination apology video – now he reveals he took it to the DMs too.

Aussie music’s most unexpected feud is already over, with singer-songwriter Ben Lee revealing he slid into Guy Sebastian’s DMs to make amends the same day he publicly criticised the star for his stance on Covid vaccinations.

Lee opened up about his brief stoush with the Voice coach in the latest episode of the podcast I Swear I Never, recorded the day after Sebastian was hit with a wave of backlash about his bizarre flip-flop over vaccines.

After deleting a pro-vaccination message from his account he said was shared by his team without his authorisation, Sebastian then posted an apology video insisting he would “never, ever tell people what to do when it comes to their personal health choices.”

Ben Lee says he and Sebastian tried to “diffuse” the situation privately. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Lee was one of many to criticise Sebastian, tweeting that the apology was “actually a really sad example of what happens when your career is dependent on trying to be all things to all people.”

Sebastian then responded during a tense radio interview with Ray Hadley about the controversy, saying: “Ben’s a beautiful guy – but he’s only weighing in on a narrative that’s already been set, which wasn’t the correct narrative.”

Speaking to I Swear I Never hosts Nina Young and Bek Day the next day, Lee said he didn’t want to “pile on” Sebastian, “because I actually feel for him in this situation, and I think he’s trying to respect the values of his audience, his family and the people around him.

Sebastian’s apology video was not well-received.

“Me and him were DMing last night and trying to diffuse the situation a little bit. I was saying, I think part of the reason the clarifications you’ve made haven’t landed is because if you continue to focus on this ‘personal choice’ aspect, it can almost be perceived as a dog whistle to anti-vaxxers.

“Whereas the reality is, we’re not talking about mandating vaccines, we’re talking about taking a collective action in community health. There’s been no suggestion that vaccines are going to be forced,” he continued.

Later on in the podcast, Lee said he was surprised at how quick some had been to ‘cancel’ Sebastian.

“Literally yesterday, the amount of times I had to get on Twitter when people were like ‘I’m boycotting Guy Sebastian! I’m never watching The Voice again!’ I’m like: chill out. We need to have conversations. They way everyone jumps to extremes …” he said.

Instead, Lee suggested Sebastian’s attempts to placate his critics “may well come from a naivety of what it means to be a public person.”

Listen to Ben Lee’s full interview on the I Swear I Never podcast below:

Originally published as Ben Lee reveals DMs with Guy Sebastian over vaccination controversy