Ed Sheeran denies “divisive” reports he attended J.K. Rowling’s New Year’s party

nme.com:

Ed Sheeran has criticised reports claiming he attended J.K. Rowling’s New Year’s Eve party, calling them “divisive and damaging”.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, 2025The 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.