The Project’s Waleed Aly backs Guy Sebastian after vaccination apology video backlash

One prominent medical expert has explained what he finds so wrong with Guy Sebastian’s bizarre vaccination apology.

The Project’s Waleed Aly has defended Guy Sebastian after the singer copped severe backlash for an emotional apology video in which he distanced himself from a pro-vaccination campaign.

But Project guest Dr Vyom Sharma argued Sebastian’s comments yesterday showed a “lack of understanding” of the issue, pointing out that only a tiny number of people aren’t able to get vaccinated for medical reasons.

Sebastian, 39, said he would “never, ever tell people what to do when it comes to their personal health choices” as part of his apology, after his team shared a now-deleted Instagram post on Sebastian’s behalf urging Australians to get vaccinated in line with the newly-launched and celebrity-backed #VaxTheNation campaign.

Faced with overwhelming criticism over his apology, things got even uglier when Sebastian called into Ray Hadley’s 2GB program in an interview that quickly went sour.

“I’m very disappointed in you, to tell you the truth,” said Hadley, who had earlier in the day urged Sebastian to “get the splinters out of your arse; get off the fence”.

Aly said on The Project on Tuesday night that he “really, really feels for Guy” in the wake of the backlash.

“He seems to me a lovely guy who is being beset upon by people who are not that, and waded into an issue where I don’t think he quite understood the polarisation it faces,” Aly said.

Carrie Bickmore was also sympathetic toward The Voice coach, saying, “The pile on … The whole thing gets so ugly.”

Waleed Aly defends Guy Sebastian.

But guest host Dr Vyom Sharma added that Sebastian’s stance showed a “lack of understanding”.

“He talked about the fact that he doesn’t want to tell people what they want to do if they have some medical conditions that may prohibit them from getting the vaccine,” Sharma began.

“I can see his good intentions here, but unfortunately this shows a lack of understanding. If anything, if you’ve got lots of medical conditions, that should encourage you more than anyone to go get vaccinated. You are exactly the person who is at risk from COVID-19, exactly the person we want to vaccinate first.”

“I think the issue is, the number of people who actually can’t have these specific Covid vaccines because of underlying conditions, they are a very, very small group. We are talking about rare conditions that you barely ever see. It’s not the case that there are thousands of people out there who can’t get vaccinated - it’s just a few,” he said.

Dr Vyom Sharma: "It shows a lack of understanding."

During his frosty interview with Hadley earlier on Tuesday, Sebastian explained he was double-vaccinated and was in full support of the vaccine, but that he empathised with people who had legitimate medical reasons for not receiving the jab.

“I think it’s a very false narrative and you’ve actually missed the point of what I’m saying. My point is that there are people who I have personal relationships with that also fall into a category of consideration,” Sebastian said.

Guy Sebastian has been slammed for the apology video, accused of “sitting on the fence”. Picture: guysebastian/Instagram

“I personally choose to be inclusive of people who have genuine reasons – I’m talking about teachers who’ve taught for 25 years that can’t teach, I’m talking about musicians and crew who have legitimate medical reasons why it’s a much more difficult situation.”

Hadley pointed out that Sebastian had never mentioned those with “legitimate medical reasons” in his apology video.

“In my message, I said I support the initiative, I just don’t think it should be done in a way to shame the people who don’t fall into an anti-vax category,” the singer argued.

Music industry heavyweights including Jimmy Barnes, Amy Shark, and the Hilltop Hoods were among the high profile names supporting the #VaxTheNation initiative, which was released on Monday.

In the short campaign video, Australians were called on to help “stop the interruptions” to the entertainment industry and help end the cycle of lockdowns.

In a statement provided to news.com.au, a #VAXTHENATION spokesperson said:

“We all miss our loved ones – our friends, our family, and being able to gather again. We all want to get back to the magic of live events. #VAXTHENATION is not a political campaign tied to any Government, and we welcome open conversation. The campaign is self-funded by the industry and the position of the LIVE Alliance (Live Industry Venues and Entertainment Alliance) is that high vaccination rates are the only way to get the show back on the road. We are encouraging people to seek professional health advice and make an informed choice. Head to our website to read more about informed consent.”

Originally published as The Project’s Waleed Aly backs Guy Sebastian after vaccination apology video backlash