The recent release of the late Avicii’s documentary, I’m Tim, has called his close friend, Sean Eriksson, to speak out about its narrative.
Last month saw the Netflix release of I’m Tim, a documentary chronicling the rise and fall of the late Tim Bergling aka Avicii. Notably absent was his close friend, Sean Eriksson, who has aired grievances about what he says is a controlled narrative.
In an Instagram Reel, Eriksson said that he did not participate “because Tim’s dad is in it,” and that he “can’t be part of anything that has his false storytelling of Tim in it.” According to Eriksson, for example, the “Levels” producer’s father, Klas Bergling, claims that it was his idea to stage an intervention for his son “when he was the only one arguing against it.”
“His main concern was the lost revenue from canceled shows, and possibly being sued by promoters, etc.” Eriksson argues. “Not at all about Tim’s wellbeing.”
Later in the video, Eriksson sets his sights on Jesse Waits, who he asserts gave a “reckless” account of Bergling’s relationship with opiates. “You don’t say that someone is an opiate addict without going into the details,” he says, mentioning Bergling’s gallbladder surgeries and reframing him as a “victim of the Oxycontin epidemic in the US.”
Eriksson, who says he knew Tim Bergling since junior high, has previously taken issue with depictions of him as “the posterboy for mental health” that he feel weaken the artist’s legacy by people who he says had never met him. He has also claimed that at least one item in an auction said to have belonged to Avicii was actually his, criticizing its organizers for failing to fact-check before offering it up to bidders.
A spokesperson on behalf of the Tim Bergling Foundation, a mental health charity founded by Bergling’s family, did not immediately respond to EDM Identity’s request for comment.