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\n\tDean Lewis<\/a> issued an apology Thursday following viral allegations that the Australian singer-songwriter behaved inappropriately with female fans.<\/p>\n \n\tIn recent weeks, several women who claim to have had interactions with Lewis over the past decade have\u00a0shared their experiences on TikTok<\/a>, providing screenshots and phone recordings that appear to show Lewis sexting, flirting, and arranging meet-ups with female fans.<\/p>\n \n\tIn his statement Thursday, Lewis \u2014 an award-winning singer in his native Australia whose hits \u201cWaves\u201d and \u201cBe Alright\u201d led him to a stint performing<\/a> and collaborating with<\/a> the Jonas Brothers \u2014 acknowledged the accusations and apologized for his behavior, but reiterated that he did nothing \u201cillegal\u201d with women he thought were \u201cconsenting adults.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI understand why people are angry and disappointed after learning embarrassing details of intimate, private conversations and relationships I\u2019ve had with consenting adults over the past decade, but I want to emphasize that none of this is illegal,\u201d Lewis wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThe individuals leading the campaign against me have repeatedly acknowledged this, and I\u2019m hurt by any suggestion that I\u2019ve done things that have crossed into illegality. At the same time, I realize I\u2019ve made an incredible mess, people are genuinely hurt, and I need to make changes.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tLewis admitted, \u201cI\u2019ve been flirty with adult women of all different ages, in-person, online, and over text. Occasionally, that flirting leads to consensual intimate encounters or relationships that I thought were private. And like anyone who has ever dated, been in a relationship, or just sent dumb flirty texts (and yes, sometimes sexts), I\u2019ve done and said incredibly stupid, insensitive, and embarrassing things that I\u2019m mortified by when looking back.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tLewis called the viral allegations against him and the fans\u2019 reaction to the TikTok videos an \u201coverdue wake-up call.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIn the past few days, social media has made public a decade-plus of private conversations with a number of women, all of adult age. I don\u2019t fault these individuals for having hard feelings, and I don\u2019t want anyone defending me,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cI was breathtakingly dumb texting and flirting in the manner I have over many years. I should have been more sensitive that not everyone might look at our interactions the way I often did. From the bottom of my heart, I want to sincerely apologize to those I\u2019ve hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n