Ed Sheeran Slams ‘Divisive’ and ‘Damaging’ False News Reports

Ed Sheeran is setting the record straight directly to his fans after a broadcaster tweeted information about him that the singer deemed both “divisive” and “damaging.”

The musician took to his Instagram Story, and later tweeted a screenshot of the same thing, on Jan. 21 where he addressed a tweet from broadcaster India Willoughby that insinuated that Sheeran was associated with the Israeli military and spent New Year’s Eve at a party hosted by J.K. Rowling.

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Sheeran addressed both allegations, writing, “Respectfully, India Willoughby, and any other journalist who has reported both these stories, neither are true.”

He explained that he “​​spent new year with my family and friends,” and not with the controversial Harry Potter author.

Sheeran then explained that while there were IDF soldiers present at one of his concerts, the headline that was shared by Willoughby took the situation out of context. “The story about wounded soldiers at my show, was a charity that sourced tickets to my show in Cyprus last year, which was a large scale public concert,” he said.

The musician then concluded his post by writing, “This sort of reporting is divisive and damaging, please research before you post things.”

Willoughby responded to Sheeran on X (formerly Twitter) and wrote “Hi @edsheeran- this is great to hear 👍. I used the word ‘reportedly’ about JK Rowling’s NYE party, because it was widely reported by UK and international media at the time. I also reached out directly to you in the first wk of Jan via Twitter to ask if the story was correct - but no reply. Delighted to hear you didn’t go! ✌️❤️🏳️‍⚧️.”

In a series of subsequent tweets, Willoughby then wrote “ I note the Daily Express has now removed their made-up story. Delighted I can still be an @edsheeran fan 😊✌️❤️🏳️‍⚧,” and “From the source - Ed Sheeran DID NOT attend JK Rowling’s New Year’s Eve party,” tagging the artist and showing screenshots from two outlets that claimed that Sheeran spent New Year’s Eve with Rowling and James Bond star Daniel Craig.

Next: Ed Sheeran Powers Through Onstage Injury as He Receives Medical Care Mid-Song