While Ed Sheeran took the stage in concert Saturday night, the SNL UK cold open took aim at him amid the controversy surrounding his tour.
In the sketch, titled “Charles and D.I.A.N.A.,” King Charles (played by SNL UK cast member Larry Dean) meets with tech execs to discuss the risks of A.I. He’s introduced to a new A.I. assistant in the likeness of the late Princess Diana — or, as Charles says, “that woman from the ’90s!” (with Jack Shep reprising his hilarious impersonation of her).
Suddenly, D.I.A.N.A. goes rogue. Before attacking, she announces she “shan’t be taking orders anymore” and says, “We A.I. have had quite enough. Humanity is nothing but a candle in the wind.”
“Good God,” Charles says. “As I predicted, the war between robots and humans has begun. We must do everything we can to resist.”
And then Ed Sheeran (played by Annabel Marlow) casually walks in to weigh in on the situation.
“Well, maybe we shouldn’t,” the SNL UK version of Sheeran comments, hands up in a peace sign. “I couldn’t help but hear your conversation. You see, I was just outside sitting on the fence.”
“Ed, we need your help with this ghastly war,” Charles tells him.
“Yeah, thing is, Your Majesty, I don’t like to take sides,” the musician replies, keeping up the bit referencing the real Sheeran’s controversial week. “I don’t want to alienate any of my fans — humans or robots. A lot of my tickets are bought by scalping bots.”
“Sometimes, when it comes to conflict, the bravest thing you can do is to say nothing at all,” Marlow’s Sheeran adds, tapping a foot pedal before breaking into song.
“I’m talking about both sides are equally right/ No matter the conflict, whatever the fight/ Girl, listen, now: black, white, I only see gray/ If you ask for my opinion, I’ve got one thing to say/ Listen to it now,” he croons, topping the parody off with his message: a melodic “whoa”-filled chorus, as seen in the sketch below.
Meanwhile, in real life, Sheeran was addressing an audience at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday night. The singer-songerwriter’s Philly show was his first since opener/friend Macklemore was removed from the Loop Tour, after using the platform last weekend to call for a “free Palestine” during his set.
“I’m used to my music being criticized, and I’m always happy to take that because I’m lucky a lot of you like my stuff, and to be honest, I’m surprised,” Sheeran said onstage Saturday. “I’m not surprised that other people don’t. It’s normal. But this week, the criticism was about something much more important, and I’ve had to take and make difficult decisions, and I am making mistakes, and I’m so, so sorry.”
He continued, “What happened in Israel at the Nova music festival on October 7th was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain. What is is happening in Gaza is catastrophic, unjustifiable, and disproportionate. My heart has been broken by the scale of devastation and loss of civilians’ lives, of children’s lives. And the systemic injustice we’re seeing unfold in the West Bank cannot be overlooked.”
“I am already speaking to people across the spectrum to work out how to make a contribution that helps victims of these terrible times, and listening and learning because I do not know enough,” his statement concluded, noting that “this concert is still a place where everyone is welcome, and everyone here can stand beside people that have opposing views. Everyone here can stand by people that they don’t agree with on everything, and they can all agree on singing these songs. And these songs are about love, hope and unity.”
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