Ed Sheeran has criticised reports claiming he attended J.K. Rowling’s New Year’s Eve party, calling them “divisive and damaging”.
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The singer-songwriter responded to a post by transgender newsreader and broadcaster India Willoughby on X/Twitter. She shared a screenshot of an opinion piece by the Jerusalem Post, titled ‘How Ed Sheeran brought joy to wounded IDF [Israel Defence Force] soldiers’.
Willoughby captioned the image: “Ed Sheeran reportedly went to JK Rowling’s New Year’s Eve party, too.”
Sheeran later replied on Instagram Stories. “Respectfully, India Willoughby, and any other journalist who has reported both these stories, neither are true,” he wrote above a screenshot of Willoughby’s tweet.
The pop star went on to say that he “spent New Year with [his] family and friends”.
“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,” Sheeran continued.
“This sort of reporting is [divisive] and damaging, please research before you post things.”
A statement from Ed on his IG Stories earlier today. – EDHQ pic.twitter.com/RqNtK05e2l
— Ed Sheeran HQ (@edsheeran) January 21, 2025
The report about Rowling’s New Year’s party was published by The Sun, according to People. Any mention of Sheeran being in attendance has since been removed from the article.
Willoughby has replied to Sheeran, saying it was “great to hear” that he didn’t go to Rowling’s event. “I used the word ‘reportedly’,” she wrote, adding that the claim had been “widely reported by UK and international media at the time”.
“I also reached out directly to you in the first [week] of Jan via Twitter to ask if the story was correct – but no reply,” she continued. “Delighted to hear you didn’t go! ✌️❤️🏳️⚧️.”
In a follow-up post, Willoughby said she had heard directly “from the source” that Sheeran “DID NOT attend JK Rowling’s New Year’s Eve party”.
Last year, Willoughby reported Rowling to the police for misgendering her online. However, the complaint did not “meet the criminal threshold”. Rowling said in response to the accusation: “Extraordinary… The police are going to be very busy (via the Independent).
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 -… https://t.co/bLWNFvtaVU
— India Willoughby (@IndiaWilloughby) January 21, 2025
From the source – Ed Sheeran DID NOT attend JK Rowling’s New Year’s Eve party . @edsheeran . pic.twitter.com/nLGDvuZ55c
— India Willoughby (@IndiaWilloughby) January 21, 2025
The Harry Potter author had taken issue with trans women being allowed to use women’s changing rooms. Referring to Willoughby directly, she wrote on X/Twitter: “India didn’t become a woman. India is cosplaying a misogynistic male fantasy of what a woman is.”
Rowling has received widespread criticism in recent years for being outspoken in her controversial views about the transgender community.
In October, she courted controversy for comments she made about the alleged transphobia controversy surrounding Butlin’s in Skegness.
She also dared Scottish police to arrest her for remarks about new hate crime legislation, publicly criticised Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson for defending the trans community, and was named in a lawsuit filed by Olympic boxer Imane Khelif.
Elsewhere, Rowling took a dig at David Tennant after Kemi Badenoch, who Tennant has publicly criticised, was named the new leader of the Conservative Party. She had said earlier that the actor was part of the ‘Gender Taliban’ for the comments he’d made about the politician.
Many Harry Potter fans have objected to Rowling’s involvement in the upcoming TV adaptation of the book and film series because of her views. Despite this, it has been confirmed that the writer remains “fairly involved” in the project.
In other news, Ed Sheeran recently revealed that he has already finished his next album – which will see him “getting back into big pop”.
