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Ed Sheeran Claps Back After Being Mocked For Saying He Identifies Culturally As Irish
Sheeran recently appeared on the Louis Theroux Podcast to discuss music, as well as his style, goals, and identity.
While on the podcast, Sheeran discussed many subjects with Theroux, including scaling back his involvement in being a traveling musician and having "achieved enough for now."
But the part of the interview that caught most people's attention was when Sheeran reflected on his upbringing and identity.
The 34-year-old reflected on the fact that while he was raised in Suffolk, England, he actually identifies "culturally as Irish."
Since his father is Irish and was originally from Belfast, and he recalls many memories of visiting his dad's childhood home in Ireland, he feels like those experiences have shaped his identity more than those in England.
Sheeran explained:
"I class my culture as Irish. I think that's what I grew up with."
"My dad's family is... he's got seven brothers and sisters. We'd spend all of our holidays in Ireland."
"My first musical experiences were in Ireland, [and] I grew up with trad music in the house. So I identify culturally as Irish, but I was obviously born and raised in Britain."
Sheeran also thought this identification made perfect sense.
"I don't overthink it, but I do feel like my culture is something that I'm really proud of and grew up with and want to express."
"And I feel like just because I was born in Britain doesn't necessarily mean that I have to just be [British], there's loads of people I know that are half this or quarter this."
"I don't think there are any rules to it. It should be how you feel and how you were raised and what you lean into."
"It's basically my second home, musically. I'd say Ireland is the place that I am most successful musically."
These declarations, of course, got a lot of attention quickly, and most of it was critical.
After seeing the pushback on his interview, Sheeran responded in an Instagram story.
The story was a simple white text box with a screenshot of one of his Instagram comments.
The story text read:
"For anyone with an opinion after what I said about my heritage on the [Louis Theroux Podcast]."
The screenshot of the comment he included read:
"My dad is Irish. My family is Irish. I have an Irish passport."
"The culture I was brought up around is Irish. The first music I learnt was Irish."
"Just coz I was born somewhere else doesn't change my culture. I can be allowed to feel connection to a place half of my family is from."
@teddysphotos/Instagram
Fans tried to be more supportive after Sheeran posted the clapback.
Ed Sheeran is in the public eye, making this conversation around his identity and heritage very public, but this is unfortunately a conversation that many people have had when they try to stay connected to their heritage when they don't live in the same country.
While we all have a primary home and residency, some people try really hard to stay connected to other countries their family members may have immigrated from through regular visits, staying in touch with loved ones, knowing the language, and regularly involving themselves in things that bring that country to life, like their music, food, and traditions.
Though Sheeran may technically be a resident of England, that isn't to say that his bonds with family and tradition in Ireland are not strong, and only he can say how all of these experiences have shaped him.
Cartoon Network Trolls Homophobes Hard For Melting Down Over Pride Month Fan Art
For instance, one viral post featured drawings of Princess Bubblegum and Marceline from Adventure Time using a rainbow flag as a cape, along with a caption urging people to "live bravely" and "spread love."
By now we all know how much conservatives absolutely HATE IT any time anyone "spreads love," so of course they lost their ever-loving minds.
From puking emojis to right-wingers lamenting the supposed sullying of their childhoods, many people were deeply upset by *checks notes* cartoon characters acknowledging the existence of LGBTQ+ people.
And Cartoon Network was having none of it. They immediately jumped into the comments and started scrappin', with some of the most hilarious digs possible.
One comment from the network pretty much summed it all up perfectly:
"Watching comments be mad about characters from a show that aired 15 years ago 👁️ 👄 👁️"
But that was only the beginning. They started replying to bigots specifically to mock them.
To a troll whining that their childhood was now ruined by the existence of queer people, the network replied:
“Doesn’t seem like you’ve grown up tho”
To one that just commented a string of vomiting emojis, they were much more succinct, simply writing, "goodbye."
And they kept it up:
Even the more curmudgeonly folks online who said they usually hate it when corporate brands try to market themselves by joining online discourse admitted in a Reddit threat that Cartoon Network was an exception.
And in the comments of Cartoon Network's posts, they made sure to cheer them on for their efforts while also pointing out how dumb the uproar was in the first place.
Anyway, Happy Pride, you homophobic weirdos! We wish you the best of luck in healing the wounds this has inflicted upon you.
White House Dragged After Sharing Doctored Video Of Bar Erupting In Cheers Over Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill'
After the March and May deaths of three Democrats, the GOP held a 220-212 majority in the House of Representatives, where according to the U.S. Constitution all funding bills are required to start.
A Trump tax and spending bill should have been an easy pass with an eight vote majority, but it took almost a week of negotiations, an all night session, and last minute added provisions to get the bill to pass by only one vote.
In the end, all 212 Democrats plus two Republicans voted against the bill, 215 Republicans voted for it, one Republican voted "present," and two GOP Representatives skipped voting entirely.
Those 215 Republicans who supported the One Big Beautiful Bill soon found themselves in the crosshairs of their constituents from all points on the political spectrum. Conservatives, liberals, and libertarians all shared their disgust over some or all of the tax and spending cuts.
The Trump administration claimed their One Big Beautiful Bill would reduce federal spending by $1.5 trillion, but doesn't divulge that's through cuts to taxpayer benefit programs like Medicaid and SNAP or that it would increase the federal deficit by $3.8 trillion by 2034.
With no organic support for his bill, Trump decided to invent some.
An AI-generated propaganda video was (poorly) produced to make it appear a crowded bar erupted into cheers over Trump just uttering the name of the bill. Then it was posted by the official White House account, but not on their Facebook or Instagram accounts.
You can see the clearly targeted propaganda here:
The official White House account posted:
"The bar went silent."
"Then he said 'One Big Beautiful Bill'…
"And they lost it."
"Pass the bill."
"Put it on President Trump’s desk."
"Americans can’t wait any longer."
But even on right-leaning X, criticism and fact checking was quick and abundant.
It turns out the 2016 bar scene—of British football fans' reacting to a match—has been used repeatedly for years.
People found the effort weak and the results pathetic.
But it's no wonder the Trump administration controlled White House social media account turned to such propaganda.
Billionaire tech investor, former Trump administration member as head of the Trump-created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and owner of X Elon Musk took to exclusive interviews and his own social media platform to trash Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill.
Musk infamously called it a "disgusting abomination" which touched off an escalating war of words between Trump and Musk that capped off with Musk divulging FBI director Kash Patel's real reason for not disclosing the full files of underage sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
And before the proverbial ink was even dry, Republicans were also denouncing the bill—which they'd just voted to pass.
Some Republicans, like Nebraska's Mike Flood and Georgia's MAGA minion Marjorie Taylor Greene, claimed they didn't have any idea what was in the bill before voting for it. Others—like Pennsylvania's Scott Perry who reposted Musk's criticism with a co-signing caption—tried to trash the One Big Beautiful Bill without revealing they had voted to pass it.
Both tactics were soundly criticized.
The One Big Beautiful Bill is now in the hands of the Senate, where major changes are expected if there's any hope of it passing.