Aussie singer Guy Sebastian claims cop held gun to his head in California

Guy Sebastian tried to explain the situation to the police on the scene but he was told to "shut up". Photo / Supplied

Guy Sebastian says he was looking for a stolen car when he had a gun pressed into his forehead during a terrifying incident in the US.

The singer told iHeart Radio he was living in Los Angeles at the time working on his music when his car was illegally towed.

Sebastian said this was a common problem in LA, where cars are taken from people and they're not told where. After three months these scammers then sell cars, he claims.

Luckily he said that a passer-by had seen what was happening and told him where he could find his car, but by that stage he had reported it stolen.

He said there was some back and forth between him and LAPD officers before they eventually allowed him to register his car as stolen.

After speaking to witnesses who told him where his car had gone, Sebastian said he went to pick it up. He called the police and told them he'd found the car.

He said that he was on hold for 45 minutes and he drove to a nearby car wash to wait.

"So I'm sitting in this car wash when all these police converge with guns drawn," he said. "It's not really their fault because to them I'm driving a stolen car."

He tried to explain the situation but he was told to "shut up" and to get on the ground.

He complied, but when he was on the ground he said a police officer put a knee on his back and threw his phone away, smashing it.

"He actually had a gun pressed into my forehead," he said. "It was full-on. I could feel the metal of this gun and there was so many of them."

He said one officer realised what was going on and defused the situation.

Sebastian said he even sympathised with the work police have to contend with in America.

"They deal with extremely heavy handed members of the public and criminals," he said. "It's not like here. Everyone's got a gun."

It has been a rough week for Sebastian, after his former manager was arrested and charged with defrauding the singer of $1.15 million over multiple years.

Titus Day, 47, was charged overnight with 61 counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception and faced court on Thursday.

Sebastian said in a statement he had been left "absolutely devastated" after his ex-manager was charged with fraud offences for allegedly keeping more than $1 million from the singer over seven years.

He said he parted ways with Day in November 2017 and he was "absolutely devastated" to learn of the nature and detail of the charges.

"All my income was controlled via Titus into a Trust account and after noticing some disparities in payments I requested some financial information I was rightfully entitled to and our relationship began deteriorating," he said.

"Over these last years, my integrity and reputation have been questioned, and many untruths have been publicly stated.

"For me this has been deeply personal and this period has been the toughest of my life."