Ed Sheeran appeared in the first episode of Game of Thrones’ Season 7. Maisie Williams is a fan of Ed, so the showrunners decided to do something nice for her and they cast Sheeran as a Kingsguard traveling to the Riverlands to take care of some chaos left in Arya’s wake. Ed even sang a little bit and whatever. I already said that his appearance completely took me out of the show, and that it felt like GoT jumped the shark in that moment. It was awkward. His cameo was poorly received overall, as Twitter jumped down his throat and made fun of him for about 24 hours. So is it shocking that Ed Sheeran has deleted his Twitter?
Ed Sheeran deleted his Twitter account on Monday, without providing any kind of public explanation to fans. The action came a day after Sheeran appeared in a guest role on Game of Thrones, which received a mix of positive and very critical reviews.
Possibly, Sheeran was sick of receiving the negative comments and decided to leave the social media site, or maybe it was because of this Buzzfeed article highlighting “24 Tweets Ed Sheeran Will Probably Delete Soon.” Or maybe was something he had been meaning to do for some time.
On Instagram, meanwhile, Sheeran seemed in good spirits as he shared a photo of him and his girlfriend Cherry Seaborn “climbing mountains in Peru,” as he captioned it.
Sheeran recently talked about how he was taking a break from social media – mostly Twitter – because Lady Gaga’s fans hated him and made his life hell. I think that’s part of the reason why he deleted his Twitter. But I bet the Game of Thrones stuff had something to do with it too. Don’t get me wrong, I understand why he said yes to the cameo: who amongst us wouldn’t say yes if we were offered a chance to make a cameo on Game of Thrones? He came at the gig from the perspective of a GoT fan, and he was trying to do something nice for Maisie. The people I really blame are the showrunners for even asking Sheeran to appear. This was poorly thought out, poorly executed, and just a terrible decision from start to finish.
It does remind me of something though: Ed Sheeran gets very pissy when anyone criticizes him over anything.
Ed Sheeran deactivated his Twitter pic.twitter.com/WuqQJqoEjk
— Joseph (@joe815) July 18, 2017
Photos courtesy of Instagram and WENN.
Thin skinned.
Exactly. When did he get so thin skinned? He used to openly mock his appearance which I always thought was the best approach. Laugh at yourself before they can laugh at you
No wonder why he is Taylor Swift friend.
I was coming to say the same. Its really not surprising how thin skinned he is
He said during his Carpool Karaoke that bad comments really ruin his day and that he decided to stay away from them because of this. I guess, he decided instead of just not using his accounts he doesn’t need them at all.
CryBabyGurl, SO MUCH YES. I’m not into his music but he’s a 26 year old FFS. As if everyone who is criticizing him could deal with the massive onslaught of negativity from Twitter at that tender age and continue to be creative. It’s not as if he told people to stop being mean. I might consider that pretty thin-skinned. He simply stepped away from a situation that wasn’t working for him. Smart move.
I finally got around to watching the episode yesterday and I was definitely distracted by his appearance. My husband and I legit started talking over the show about how distracting it was and had to rewind to make sure we didn’t miss important dialogue lol It really felt out of place to me.
It was a silly cameo, but Jim Broadbent’s cameo was spot on.
Despite hanging out here, I didn’t recognize him (or know who he is other than a singer). But I did think — what an odd, out-of-place scene after watching it.
I think if they had dirtied him up a lot more and made him look less recognizable it would have been more organic and less jarring.
Now that the trolls know how ‘sensitive’ he is they wont relent, he needs to grow some thick skin.
Snowflake
Using “snowflake” as an insult needs to go.
Snowflakes are gorgeous, fleeting, unique — and actually magnificent if you take time to examine them up close.
Sheeran said his family gives him enough shit already — why would he need strangers on the internet to do it, too? Celebrities don’t owe their fans direct contact via Twitter.
And I’m thinking about author John Green, who has OCD and anxiety. He has said the constant barrage of negativity on Twitter drains his energy and he’s cut way back on social media.
I’d rather creators, artists and ALL of us know when to hop off the Twitter train and put that energy into creating new work or living a more fulfilled life.
I’ve never heard an Ed Sheeran song, but I assume he’s a complex human like the rest of us. We don’t know what kind of mental health, mood disorders or self-esteem issues he may be dealing with. There’s an innate fragility in all life, no matter your profession.
Glitter on, snowflakes. Be your own unique, beautiful selves and take good care of your one wild, precious life.
+1
what makes him a snowflake? That he doesn’t like to be bullied by trolls? I don’t blame him. Who needs the grief? And this doesn’t make him think skinned it is called self preservation.
Honestly, I feel bad for him. Yeah, I agree that GoT isn’t the show where celebrity cameos or stunt casting should be used, because it pulls the viewers out of the experience of being immersed in this other world, which is why the show is so compelling.
But it was a couple minutes and after the first thirty seconds I stopped thinking about the fact that it was Ed Sheeran and just paid attention to what was unfolding in the scene itself, and to Arya’s reactions when she hears news about King’s Landing.
Are people really so mean and hateful that that need to savage Sheeran over this? Wouldn’t half the musicians around today love to make a cameo in the show? Blame the show runners. I’m not a giant fan of Sheeran’s but the reactions seem over the top.
I agree. Why are people such a-holes all the time?
Well, I’m just a big blue meanie because the first thing I thought was, Oh, we should call flouncing off the Twatter “doing a Stephen Fry”. And, having tickled myself with my own childish joke, laughed for possibly too many minutes.
I used to like poor old Ed when he was an up-and-coming but he has become increasingly irritating as his fame increased. That said, yes, I am a childish blue meanie, and yes, it’s as though the internet isn’t happy unless it’s had a two minute hate du jour.
Probably we all need more fresh air and exercise. Or something.
This!
My husband and I laughed and said “that’s Ed Sheeran.” End of story. It would have been very distracting and nutty if he had sang “Thinking Out Loud” though.
Same here. I said it’s “Ed Sheeran!” My husband said “Who?” and we kept watching. People really get upset over the dumbest things. Sometimes I hate social media.
Yeah, I feel kind of bad for him too. The shitstorm should be going towards the people running the show, not Ed. Of course he’s going to jump at the chance if it’s there – and I don’t think he should get hate for that. Just because other people get it worse on social media doesn’t mean that it’s OK for him to receive that level of hatred. The blasé attitude of “meh – grow thicker skin” is one of the reasons the world is such a shit place. Call out shitty behavior – don’t tell the people who are hurt that their feelings are invalid or they just need to toughen up. That is such a crap response when we should really be calling out the kind of people who are just behaving so hatefully.
They should have done more with hair/makeup. Honest to god, I can’t believe they sent him out looking like Ed Sheeran cosplaying. Three of the guys from Mastadon had a cameo on GoT. They made them look completely different – wigs, mud, fake blood, etc. You wouldn’t have noticed them if you’re not looking for them. They stuck them in with a group of Wildlings. I don’t for a second understand why they didn’t do something similar with Ed – and again, that’s not on him. That’s on the people running the show.
I love what you said in the first paragraph.
Hear, hear!
“Call out shitty behavior – don’t tell the people who are hurt that their feelings are invalid or they just need to toughen up. That is such a crap response when we should really be calling out the kind of people who are just behaving so hatefully.”
Well said!
Agreed, I was thinking exactly that throughout the scene. Why is he not dirtier? Who in GoT wilderness is so clean and modern looking?
I think they did him a disservice by making him so recognizable. the minute I saw him, he was noticeable, and completely anachronistic. They should have done something makeup and hair wise that would have allowed him to blend into the story line more.
It was the showrunners’ poor judgment, but taking on the role was also poor judgment on Ed’s part if he’s sensitive to criticism. If Ed is really a fan of the show, then he oughta know that he does not look like a typical guard or soldier on GoT. He’s a decent enough looking guy, but he has a bit of softness to his appearance that makes him look like he’d be able to defend a cat at best! It was unrealistic casting for him, and he must have a really high opinion of himself to be surprised at the criticism.
For my money, he’d have been better cast as a traveling bard or court jester or something.
I guess I’m alone but I really enjoyed his cameo and thought he did a good job. I wasn’t distracted, just tickled that it was Ed Sheeran but it wasn’t like I couldn’t take in dialogue or understand what was happening because he was playing a very brief role. I have a soft spot for him because I think it is terrible to see someone criticized for their looks and I think he looks just fine, anyway. I personally won’t have social media and I can’t imagine being a famous person and having people come out of the woodwork just to be cruel. I guess the measure of success one has might make it a little tiny bit easier, but not by much. Everyone has feelings. I felt like that the couple of times I’ve been attacked here for having a different opinion (and it was stated nicely and respectfully) and a couple of people were vicious and indignant for no other reason than I had a different thought. That’s why I rarely post.
I mean, it jumped a massive shark in that moment….at least Sigur Ros we’re classy about it…that ranga git is bloody everywhere right now….’It’s a new one,’ ….fuck right off, Sheeran….
I can understand how he could of thrown people off watching the show. But for me this is just a sick continuation how we build up stars to tear them down. Mostly this is done against females and mostly by other women. This has to stop
Not a big deal? He minimized his Twitter presence before the GoT season premiere, and I don’t get why it was headline news!
I mean, imagine getting a landslide of Twitter notifications on your phone!
This is all so weird to me. If you weren’t aware it was Ed Sheeran (like me), there was NO PROBLEM with it. He didn’t give a shockingly poor performance or anything. I guess if you recognized him, though, it was too anachronistic? Thank god I didn’t know!!!!
because he couldn’t even be arsed to change his ridiculous Beiber boyband hair to something more appropriate maybe?
Complain to the people styling him. I doubt he would have fought them if they’d given him a wig or something. Most people don’t show up for a role expecting to just look the same way they did when they showed up.
Was his hair that different than what Pod or Gendry had? I didn’t realise who he was until my son pointed it out. Not knowing, it didn’t seem out of place. I’m only vaguely aware of the guy so it’s no more jarring than knowing Euron was on a Danish sitcom I never saw. Harder for me was that Ramsey was in Misfits (which I did see).
I just kept waiting for Arya to kill one of them and take their face. So in theory people could be getting a scene where Ed Sheeran kills Cersei. I almost wish they would now. The outrage would be hilarious. 🙂
He comes his hair like that to cover thinning patches. It’s a comb over but from the back. That doesn’t leave the stylists many options.
Agreed. Mr. Rice and I just shrugged then went on betting on who’d die next.
Mr. TG did not recognize young Mr.S. He was distracted only by my saying “oh, there’s Ed Sheeran.”
Same here. I don’t see what the big deal is.
Just because you don’t like a thing doesn’t mean you need to mock and harass a person about it. This was just a TV cameo. It’s not that serious for people to come at him like this. No need to tell someone to kill themselves or mock their looks etc. over freakin’ GOT.
I can’t believe people would rather call him thin skinned than bemoan the general lack of manners and simple decency when it comes to the internet. That’s a big part of the problem. Sweep around your own front door, as the old saying goes.
Exactly. Was it Daisy Ridley who also deleted her account because of some hateful trolls? I remember people being more sympathetic towards her. Double standards? I am no fan of Sheeran nor did I get to watching GOT premiere yet, but I still struggle to understand the logic – why would you go after someone publicly expecially when that person never intended and never did any harm to you or anyone else? And if I understand correctly it was a camoe and he is not coming back.
I don’t watch GOT and I don’t follow ES, but I agree with you 100%. A lot of meanness over the smallest things. Save it for something important.
To expand on Jerusha’s good point, one phenomenon of social media is that many times the outrage is all at the same level, no matter the incident.
Ed Sheeran, unfortunately, has cast himself as a victim of trolls. To me, this is just him taking up air on an important issue that needs a better spokesperson. If he were a woman, or a person of colour, he would know what trolling really feels like. People are mean to him, yes, but no one is giving him threats to his safety or taunting him and his family members with threats of sexual violence. Sit down, Ed. You have no idea what you’re talking about.
People saying he’s “thin skinned” are awful! These are trolls picking on him because they have nothing better to do. Nobody deserves to be bullied online just for making a cameo on a show.
It’s both. The internet is a horrible place, but someone that famous just has to have thicker skin or their mental helath will suffer greatly.
I know who he is and I recognized him immediately on the show. He barely spoke and just sang for the show, which makes sense. The camera panned to the other guys more than him. If it was too distracting for you, you’re probably too focused on him. I thought it was fine, they’ve had other artists on there. People are so extra sometimes
Yes I didn’t find it distracting, he was barely in the scene.
Simply red needs to grow a set. Female celebs get trashed way worse on social media by trolls and the media so I lack any sympathy for him.
It was weird that he was on a show that didn’t need his lil pop up. He should just use social media for promo only or be just on IG where he can disable comments.
Have these people ever heard of just not reading their mentions?
Sure Sheenan needs to toughen up but honestly people are too extra about everything.
It’s ridiculous.
And when real scandal emerges no one can tell the difference because you’re in constant outrage mode.
Agreed. Did not see your comment before writing above.
But no one was in outrage mode. Most people were just mocking it, some were complaining it took them out of the scene, some were being hyperbolic about the show being ruined (for comedic purposes), but no one was actually properly up in arms about it.
Yes, more playground mockery than outrage.
But the interwebz comprises a great many more people than the playground and I’m sure it feels awful to be the butt of the global joke.
That’s what these fame-hoing celebs have to balance. Because they all want the fan clubs and the adulation of the tumblrs and none of them want the days when they’re the butt of the joke.
Unfortunately for them, these things are the two cheeks of the same backside.
Except that the need to mock is not universal.
Agreed. Idk if social media is driving people to be so emotionally unhealthy (monkey see monkey do) or if it’s just putting a spotlight on the unhealthiness that’s already there. But it’s not cute. It’s very concerning.
We had several good paying job openings recently and so many people missed out on interviews due to their social media being a hot mess of snark, stupidity and oversharing. People need to get it together. Seriously.
Umm nobody wants to work for a shiddy AZZ company who stalks employees social media #AtAll #ThxBye #HarrassmentMuch did you also ask for their passwords ?! Gross
What is concerning is your company’s scrutinizing potential employees’ SM (incidentally their private thoughts) in order to sort who’s hire-able and who isn’t. I’m sorry, but it is absolutely not ethical. Their suitability for the job should be assessed, not what they share with their social circle on internet.
Sounds like something from Black Mirror
D and La Montagne – this isn’t something rare. This happens often. Almost all of my friends changed their names on facebook when they were about to graduate college and were jumping into the job market. I don’t think it qualifies as private thoughts if your account is not locked down with privacy settings. If you’re allowing posts to be public – then you should not be expecting any real privacy.
The issue is that it falls into a gray area. Employers will also use linkedin and platforms like that to fact check the resumes they’re getting – which is completely reasonable since it’s a career networking site. But if a potential employer searches your name on facebook, sees a profile photo of illegal drugs, well, maybe you’re not a great candidate to work in a pharmacy. As long as they’re not discriminating against you based on appearance, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation – that sort of thing I think you’d be hard pressed to find a way to actually get them on anything. On top of that… if you’re applying for a position like social media marketer – and you don’t have an active social media presence, I doubt you’d be considered.
The vast majority of employers that are looking up a candidate to confirm qualifications – not trying to find reasons to not hire them. If they’re looking for your linked in, or whatever, and they happen to find another social media account – see something damaging/illegal, but disregard it… they can get dinged for negligent hiring if what they saw is something that ends up hurting the company/a client.
Somewhere around 50-60% of employers are throwing candidates names into search engines – though I think that percentage is probably higher now.
I know the company I work for has a social media policy… we can’t go around posting negative things about the company, we can’t go out and do something super offensive, post it all over the internet and expect to not be called out on it. They don’t have our passwords or anything like that – but they have made it clear we’re expected to not embarrass the company.
Maybe you should sneak spy cams into their house as well – just to be sure?
@D
How old are you? Nobody cares about “stalking” social media. Get over yourself (an example of the problematic attitude right here). They do care about how people portray themselves online vs in an interview. It speaks to one’s judgment. You wouldn’t believe the things people post. One person posted about being an accessory to a crime on their social media. Not kidding. What company needs that trouble?
Anyway, welcome to the real world kiddo. The bulls*it you post to entertain your “audience” may just come back to bite you in the @ss. Cheers.
Students athletes have lost scholarships due their social media. And I agree 100% with that. How you conduct yourself on social media can show the real you. If I were a college or an organization I would not want a person who does/say one thing in person then goes and says other because they think they can hide on social media.
@ La Montagne
Now who’s a delicate snowflake? Social media is not private unless you set it to private. Like so many say about celebs, if you don’t want it out there for any eyes to see, don’t post it.
LMAO that so many of you were unaware that many companies do this now. Especially companies that deal with certain levels of security.
Another pro tip: Get a professional e-mail address. HotIrishSlut3000 and the like gets the side-eye, believe it or not. Again, your judgment, or lack thereof speaks volumes.
My friend does hiring for her company, and she most definitely checks the social media pages of potential hires. This is not a rare thing. Normally when someone acts a fool on fb (be it being a racist or homophobe etc), their place of work is contacted with the screen shots, so why would a company trying to get ahead of something like that be out of the norm?
I thought it was commonplace to check a potential hire’s social media pages. It’s not stalking. Social media isn’t private. Don’t post it if you don’t want people to see it.
Radley,
It’s not being a special snowflake to be concerned about employers invading your privacy. As a matter of fact, they cannot do it in France, where I live. Privacy is privacy and its boundaries should and are respected. What you think, what you do, who you’re with is in no way your employer’s business as long as your private life does not prevent you from doing your job or that you aren’t involved in illegal stuff. Otherwise let’s say you’re gay, post a picture of you and your partner on your FB and your boss who happens to be homophobic, decides to make your professional life a living hell and forces you to quit. Or doesn’t hire you based on that. What do you do then?
Also, your quick judgement of my person does speak volume too, as you assume that I wasn’t aware of such practices or how to professionally conduct myself. Just because I voice concerns about it doesn’t mean I’m clueless, but hey, you do you.
@La Montagne – I think the point is that if your social media accounts are in fact private (as in the settings) then potential employers will not see your posts, but if you haven’t selected those settings then it’s not private it’s public.
Whether you agree with it or not employers checking candidates, publicly available, social media is the norm now and is unlikely to change. Companies are held accountable for the racist, hateful, etc messages of their employees and so have a vested interest in avoiding those situations. If you do not want potential employers to judge you based on your social media presence then you need to ensure your settings are all set to private.
This is all so weird to me. He sang a song and had zero lines. Everyone chill out.
If this is the thing you are focused on after all that happened in that episode, then I don’t know what to tell you.
I stand by what I said yesterday. You may not like the guy in any way and that’s fine, but all of this is absolutely ridiculous. He appeared for, like, three minutes. It was a CAMEO. If you were distracted by him, it’s not his problem nor fault.
His acting was absolutely fine in the cameo. I had no problem with it. What I did think ‘oh pfft’ was when Arya commented on the song and he said ‘it’s new’. Oh, so is that a plug for his new song to be released tomorrow? (which I haven’t heard anything about, so I guess I was wrong). THAT is what I took offence to – they may as well hold a Pepsi can with the label turned toward the camera. They took too many liberties with including him in every shot, BUT his expressions and acting were on point. He did a good job – the showrunners did not.
It’s kind of sad when the reaction is “oh well, he should suck it up!” instead of acknowledging that people are truly assholes? There’s a right and wrong way of going about criticizing him.
I don’t know why some fans think they’re rotten tomatoes level critics! They even have a rotten tomatoes attitude. It’s annoying. I personally had no problem with the scene at all. It brought her down off her murdereress cloud and seem a little human for a while. They were her enemies, but just following orders and behind all that they were still human. It showed another side to her, the side we thought she lost. He was just extra. I didn’t have a problem with it and I wish the extra critical fans would stop being such a dick and enjoy the show!
Wtf some stupid show about dragons and incest is above some Ed Sheeran?! Get over your EXTRA petty selves. So freaking rude! PS don’t watch stupid show never heard his stupid music all yall hating him for working on this stupid show are petty AF though thatss for dang sure. Get some manners. And a life while you’re at it. Unbelievable!!!
“stupid show about dragons and incest”
hahahaha! that’s the show in a nutshell!
😏. Soooooooooo true
Why are people so mean to him? But as a celebrity he has to learn to not let it get to him…but he is human so it’s hard. He will learn.
That’s too bad. I’m not a fan but some folks have been extra about his cameo. There was no reason to harass him over it. Will him not being on twitter really change the lives of those gleeful that he was harassed to the point of deactivating his account?
Critics seem to have forgotten that it was the show’s producers who invited him to be on the show, as a gift to Maisie Williams. Yell on THEIR Twitter feeds if it bothers you so much! Who among us GOT fans wouldn’t take a cameo if offered?? Leave this kid alone.
On the show you could hear his singing before you saw that it was Ed Sheeran. I forgot he was going to be on GOT. My reaction was “that’s a really nice voice they have singing that song!”
He sang a song then was quite for most of the scene. Amazing what people complain about.
He was mocked not harassed or trolled. If he was too delicate for that then he should have stayed off social media in the first place. Also probably not have any friends or go drinking with any humans ever.
I found it really jarring, probably especially as I only know him from gossip sites/trashy mags as his music is not my thing at all so it was like seeing a Kardashian in Westoros. Oddly it also made the appearance in the same scene of the actor from This is England jarring too. Hundreds of actors I know from many more films/shows have appeared on GOT and none of them had that effect so I put it down to the Sheeran factor.
Yes it is completely the show runners call and not his that they put him on and didn’t change up his look at all but of course he was going to get ribbed for it. I’m sure his many millions will cushion the blow to his ego though.
Only watched first 28min. Got busy and didn’t notice him.
Oh, grow up, Ed Sheeran.
I don’t watch this show so I don’t really care, but seeing the clip it did seem pretty lame. After saying “It’s a new one” I almost expected him to say “It’s available on iTunes”. I can understand why fans of the show are pissy. Why ruin something iconic and timeless with non-iconic celebrity cameos?
We’d all be potentially hurt and disgusted if we had to hear the true, unrefined opinions of the people who we encounter in our everyday lives.
Imagine being famous and getting options from thousands of people or more??
Its not anything I’d want anything to do with. Life’s too short.
I was much more distracted by Euron’s anachronistic costume than by Ed Sheeran’s brief cameo.
To me, he totally looks like he should be in a fantasy film. Possibly as a Hobbit, but not necessarily so. He’s got a kind of ruffled highland barbarian look to him.
If he’d been a visible-but-low-key extra in the background, and nothing else, it probably would have worked fine.
I remember hearing about his casting. I didn’t expect it to be in the first episode. So embarrassing really. What were they thinking?
He wasnt so bad, I just wish there wasnt singing. Felt out of place, even though it was lovely. The writers should’ve done something better with him, his acting was fine.
Not Kingsguard (or presently Queensguard). Just regular Lannister soldiers.
I don’t really understand the purpose of that entire scene.
Want to surprise her? Pay for him to make an appearance at her freaking birthday party. What the hell? Days later, I still don’t even understand how anyone thought that would be a good idea.