Do we like Ed Sheeran?
Our score: 7 out of 10. A clean record on harm and a real history of backing LGBTQ+ fans and music kids, marked down for a clumsy, contested tour call and a cousin's public swipe.
Sheeran is the busker-turned-stadium-filler who was 19 when his debut album broke through and is now 35. His music foundation grew from a belief that learning instruments shaped him, and he has talked about music being dismissed as a 'doss subject' at his school.
The mess of the moment: on 4 September Macklemore, opening for him at MetLife Stadium, said 'Free Palestine' on stage. Stadium owners, including Patriots owner Robert Kraft, objected, and the US promoter said Macklemore would not play the remaining dates. Macklemore says Sheeran told him Kraft wouldn't allow him in his stadium; Sheeran says he didn't personally decide it and that the contract was with the promoter.
Four support acts quit, the Philadelphia show reportedly started two and a half hours late, and Sheeran played it solo. He then called the situation in Gaza 'catastrophic', 'unjustifiable' and 'disproportionate' and said he was 'so, so sorry' for his mistakes. Where you land depends on whether you read it as a man caught between a promoter and venues, or one who should have backed his mate.
On the harm check, nothing nasty turned up. He waved a pride flag at his London O2 show in 2017, and he has denied reports that he played for wounded Israeli soldiers or went to a JK Rowling party, saying neither was true. I found no campaigning against any group in the sources I read.
His cousin, musician Jethro Sheeran, posted on Instagram that Ed had treated him badly, personally and professionally, and called him a coward over Macklemore. That is one relative's claim. The report I read doesn't say Ed responded, so treat it as an allegation, not a finding.
In court he's come out ahead. A London High Court judge found in 2022 that he hadn't copied Shape of You, and the US Supreme Court declined in 2025 to revive the Thinking Out Loud suit. In January 2025 he launched a foundation to put instruments and music teaching into the hands of children and schools.