The Project’s Waleed Aly throws his support behind Guy Sebastian amid backlash against the singer

Guy Sebastian has copped plenty of backlash after withdrawing his support for the Vax the Nation ad campaign.

But the singer gained an unexpected advocate on Tuesday in the form of The Project host Waleed Aly, 43.

‘He seems to me a lovely guy who is being beset upon by people who are not that,’ began Aly.

The academic and TV personality continued that Sebastian had ‘waded into an issue where he didn’t quite understand the polarisation it faces’.

His co-host Carrie Bickmore agreed, saying ‘The pile on… The whole thing gets so ugly.’

However, guest host Dr Vyom Sharma pushed back saying, ‘I can see his good intentions but unfortunately this shows a lack of understanding that if anything, if you’ve got lots of medical conditions, that should encourage you more than anyone to go get vaccinated.’

The medical professional continued, ‘You are exactly the person who is at risk from COVID-19, exactly the person we want to vaccinate first.’

The commentary comes after The Voice Australia judge shared an apology video on Tuesday, backtracking on his involvement in an advertisement encouraging people to get jabbed.

The former Australian Idol winner received swift backlash from a whole host of celebrities who posted their concerns on Twitter.

Singer Ben Lee wrote: ‘To be honest, this is actually a really sad example of what happens when your career is dependent on trying to be all things to all people.’

Comedian Joel Creasy chimed in: ‘But seriously, Guy trying to sit on the fence in a pandemic is a fun new move.’

Author Peter FitzSimons Tweeted: ‘It is surprising. Sebastian is a very likeable character, but here he seems to be apologising for a Get Vaxxed post put out under his name yesterday.

‘In my view, nothing to apologise for. Nothing wrong with saying: ‘GET VAXXED, #FFS!”

Performer Urthboy wrote: ‘ Some artists are expending a huge amount of their cultural capital challenging audiences to get vaxxed. So much respect.

‘And then there’s Guy Sebastian, one of our most successful artists, who sounds like he agrees with the science but is terrified of losing his anti-vax $’.

Rapper and writer Adam Briggs Tweeted: ‘Man, any musicians apologising for trying to get back to work by advocating for a safer audience is self defeating. Unpack your spine ya goofballs.

‘This also isn’t just about Guy. I see it all the time with artists, sportspeople, celebrities whatever. Scared of their audience and scared of their wallet.’

Comedian Jordan Raskopoulos joked: ‘Shannon Noll would tell you to get a vaccine up ya.’

Radio star Nic Kelly wrote: ‘This is disappointing @GuySebastian brother. You can be pro personal freedoms and promote the facts that vaccines are safe and effective and our path out at the same time.’

Perth alternative rock trio Shangrila Tweeted: ‘Love you Guy Sebastian and I know there’s no winning that fight for you (comments were crazy) but I wish you didn’t back out of this post man #VaxTheNation’

The #VaxTheNation movement is urging Aussies to get vaccinated in order to stop the cycle of lockdowns and help restart the live music industry.

Sebastian had endorsed the campaign on Instagram on Monday, but deleted the post just hours later after fierce backlash from anti-vaxxers.

He then uploaded a video apologising to fans.

Guy said the campaign video was posted to his page ‘without his involvement’ and that he had only wanted to support and reopen the entertainment industry, not to preach to people about their personal vaccination choices.

‘Hello, everybody. I just wanted to jump on here to clear something up,’ he said in the clip posted on Monday night.

‘I’m sure some of you today might have seen an industry call-out with the best of intentions for our live music industry, which is absolutely decimated, trying to find a pathway forward so we can all assemble together again.

‘I’ve always done everything that I can to support my industry but the campaign was posted to my page without my direct involvement.

‘And while I, like everyone else in my industry, want things to get going again, it is not my role to communicate in the way that post was communicated.’

‘I would never ever tell people what to do when it comes to their personal health choices,’ Sebastian added, in reference to the Covid vaccine.

‘I’m very sensitive of it, not only at a public level but even in my personal life with people who have had circumstances that they have to consider when making these choices.’

He continued: ‘I just want to say I’m really sorry. It was not a post that was communicated with love or compassion, which I feel is what’s needed when it comes to addressing things like vaccinations.

‘I just wanted to clarify that so that I could speak my truth and people know how I actually feel. So lots of love.’

Guy spoke to Talkback radio host Ray Hadley on 2GB on Tuesday and insisted he is not anti-vax.

‘I haven’t said that I don’t support vaccinations, I’m double jabbed myself. In my message, I said I support the initiative I just think when the message is delivered it shouldn’t be done in a way to shame the people who don’t fall into an anti-vax category,’ he said.

More than 400 Australian artists and performers have joined forces to launch the #VaxTheNation campaign.

Powderfinger, Jimmy Barnes, Tim Minchin, Courtney Barnett, Celeste Barber, Vance Joy, Em Rusciano, Marcia Hines, Midnight Oil and Amy Shark are just some of the big names encouraging fans to get the vaccine to help restart the live music industry.

#VaxTheNation is an initiative created by the newly established LIVE (Live Industry Venues + Entertainment) alliance.

A campaign 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.’