Ed Sheeran explains why he thinks people ‘hate’ him

9 April 2025, 14:00

Ed Sheeran said he thinks some people 'hate' him. Picture: Getty

By Capital FM

Ed Sheeran said he’d rather people ‘hate him’ than not have any feelings toward him at all.

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Ed Sheeran is the latest celebrity to appear on the Call Her Daddy podcast with Alex Cooper, and during their chat he spoke about his fanbase and how he loves how passionate they are, claiming people ‘either really hate’ or ‘really love’ him.

He said: “I either have people that really hate me or really love me, there’s no ‘erh’ and I think that middle bit is what you have to avoid. You have to be fanatical about something or be like ‘I don’t like that thing.’”

Alex grilled : “You would rather someone be like ‘f*** Ed Sheeran’ than ‘he’s alright?’”

Read more: Ed Sheeran says new song 'Azizam' is 'like a reset'

The ‘Azizam’ singer said the divided nature of people’s thoughts on him have been consistent throughout his career.

Ed Sheeran said people 'either love or hate him'. Picture: Getty

“Yeh that’s been my entire career, that’s how you have a fanbase. Either people ride for you, or they really want to take you down,” he added.

Alex asked why Ed thinks people don’t like him, to which he explained ‘overexposure’ might come into it.

“I think overexposure goes into it, songs being on the radio too much,” he replied. “I also don’t necessarily fit the social norm of what a pop star should look like or act like and I don’t know if that rubs people up the wrong way, that I do look like their brother who works at a pizza shop.

“I feel like people are like, ‘why?’ And maybe that annoys them, and then you pair that with the overexposure,” he shrugged.

Ed Sheeran singing — Ed Sheeran opened up about people trying to change his style. Picture: Getty

The podcast host asked if anyones ever tried to change his hairstyle and how he dresses and he said even he wondered whether to change his style at some points.

“I’ve also slipped into that as well especially because the era I came up in, Justin Bieber was massive, One Direction was massive. Part of me is like, ‘should I look like that?’ But I always have to stay true to who I am.”

He added: “My fanbase from the beginning started out mis-fitty and my gigs were full of people in ripped jeans, baggy converse, big shirts, rather than ‘we’re getting glammed up to go to the gig’. But I found being a misfit attracted misfits.”

Ed recently returned to music after two years away, releasing upbeat summery single ‘Azizam’, which went straight to Number 1 on The Official Big Top 40.