Ed Sheeran Denies Attending J.K. Rowling’s New Year’s Eve Party
“This sort of reporting is [divisive] and damaging,” the Grammy winner said on Instagram
Ed Sheeran and J.K. Rowling Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images; Andrew Milligan/PA Images/Getty Images
Ed Sheeran slammed rumors that he was one of the attendees at Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling‘s New Year’s Eve party at her estate. Sheeran also corrected a story about performing for wounded IDF soldiers in the same post.
Sheeran’s statement on Instagram was in direct response to a post on X from English broadcaster India Willoughby, who shared a screenshot of a 2024 article with the headline “How Ed Sheeran brought joy to wounded IDF soldiers — opinion.” Willoughby captioned the screenshot by writing “Ed Sheeran reportedly went to J.K. Rowling’s New Year’s Eve party, too.” The party claims had originally be reported by The Sun.
Sheeran took to his Instagram Story to respond directly to Willoughby as well as the journalists who had written both of those stories. “Neither are true,” he said before pointing out that he rang in 2025 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,” he continued, referencing his September show. “This sort of reporting is [divisive] and damaging, please research before you post things.”
Willoughby responded to Sheeran on X, noting that she had used “reportedly” in her original post since it had been “widely reported by UK and international media at the time.” She also claimed she had reached out to Sheeran on X in early January. She shared a follow-up post with screenshots of tabloid articles that had spread the claims about Sheeran’s attendance at Rowling’s party with a caption that the source has since denied this. Meanwhile, The Sun has removed all mentions of Sheeran in their reporting on the party.
For years now, Rowling has been criticized for her anti-trans comments, which she shares frequently on X. Many people associated with the film adaptations of Harry Potter have publicly distanced themselves from Rowling over her comments, including star Daniel Radcliffe, who called her comments “really sad.” During the Summer Olympics, she came under fire for claiming that Algerian boxer and Olympic champion Imane Khelif was not a biological woman. Rowling and X’s current owner, Elon Music, were both named in a criminal complaint Khelif filed to French authorities over cyberbullying.
From Rolling Stone US.
