In Season 7 of A Game of Thrones, popular British musician Ed Sheeran made a surprise cameo as a Lannister soldier, stepping foot into Westeros after years of showrunner David Benioff trying to surprise Arya actor Maisie Williams, who was a “big fan.”
While it was undoubtedly a dream come true for Williams (just look at her grinning in the BTS photos), the scene drew so much backlash from fans that Ed Sheeran deleted his Twitter account the day after the episode aired. Almost ten years later, on the Friends Keep Secret podcast (via Entertainment Weekly), he opened up about the backlash he faced, and how confusing it was to be at the center of one of the show’s biggest controversies.
“I feel like I definitely ruffled some feathers being on Game of Thrones,” he said. “What I said is, ‘People love that show. If anyone gets asked to be in that show, it’s an instant yes.’ I said yes. I enjoyed doing it.”
“I Think It Was Quite Jarring”
Reflecting on why people were so outraged by the scene, Sheeran admitted that he was “very omnipresent and just everywhere” at the time, so it was probably “quite jarring” to see him step foot into a fantasy world as downtrodden and brutal as Westeros.
Still, he didn’t expect such a passionate outcry from fans, and a wave of harassment so harsh that he was forced to cut off from social media. “Members of Coldplay [were] at the Red Wedding,” he explained. [Gary Lightbody] from Snow Patrol’s in there. Chris Stapleton’s in it as like a White Walker.”
Sheeran has a point, but as he admitted, his scene was more “jarring” because of how prominently he featured. Other musicians appeared in the background for little cameos, rather than coming face-to-face with lead characters in more prominent roles. Still, it goes without saying that, no matter how out of place the scene or cameo may have felt, hurling abuse at Sheeran certainly wasn’t the answer.
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2011 – 2019-00-00
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Isaac Hempstead Wright
Brandon Bran Stark
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Iain Glen
Sir Jorah Mormont
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Peter Dinklage
Tyrion The Halfman Lannister
