By Marta Jary and Jo Scrimshire For Daily Mail Australia
19:47 EDT 20 Jun 2017, updated 22:38 EDT 20 Jun 2017
Pop group Hanson have apologised for comparing fellow pop star Justin Bieber to ‘chlamydia of the ear’.
Appearing on Sunrise on Wednesday morning, the trio, whose claim to fame is the 1997 hit MMMBop, admitted the pot-shot was in poor taste.
‘We were joking about koalas and Justin Bieber came up… not our brightest moment,’ Isaac Hanson, 36, told host Samantha Armytage.
Taylor Hanson explained the clumsy joke at length, saying: ‘You do interviews all the time. This was morning radio, we were making jokes about koalas.
‘And it was an unfortunate continuation of a joke about koalas. I will say this, I think we never meant anyone to take that seriously,’ he added.
When asked by host Sam if he was a fan of Justin Bieber, Taylor graciously revealed: ‘I think he’s clearly very talented. Often times what he’s not doing on stage is what people seem to be talking about and that’s where our joke was coming from’.
The furor began when Isaac Hanson compared the Baby hitmaker to ‘chlamydia’ in an interview with Adelaide’s Hit107 FM.
Isaac quipped: ‘It’s like hanging out with a koala… Chlamydia of the ear, it sucks.’
Another brother referenced the fact most healthy Koalas have chlamydia, which had been discussed in the interview.
‘I prefer not to get any venereal diseases so whenever Justin Bieber gets near me or near my ears… it’s just ear infections, they’re terrible,’ Zac said.
The Tulsa born brothers took part in ‘Whose Song Is It Anyway?’ segment and admitted they didn’t listen to much contemporary music.
They did not recognise the No. 1 hit Despacito and after being told the song was by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee ft. Justin Bieber, the pop stars didn’t hold back.
‘Can I just say I’m glad I didn’t know what that was,’ a Hanson member said.