Ellie Goulding dismisses *that* rumor about Ed Sheeran: “That was crazy”
Creative Direction: ISSTUDIO; Photographer: Louie BanksEllie Goulding’s new album, Brightest Blue, is getting great reviews, but in her native U.K., it’s generated tabloid headlines claiming certain songs “make scathing comments” about her exes. Tho…
By ABC Audio on July 21, 2020
Ellie Goulding‘s new album, Brightest Blue, is getting great reviews, but in her native U.K., it’s generated tabloid headlines claiming certain songs “make scathing comments” about her exes. Those stories also include a list of men with whom Ellie’s been linked — everyone from Prince Harry to Skrillex to Ed Sheeran. Now, she’s talking about it.
Speaking to the U.K. paper The Independent, Ellie refers to false stories in the press, noting, “There were two situations in which I felt I was made out to be the bad person and that was absolutely not the case. But I’m convinced that if I spoke out against people who were very much in the spotlight then I would have been the one in trouble.”
“I hate that I had to stay quiet and couldn’t stand up for myself…But…I was scared of being ‘canceled,’ as the kids say these days. I felt really angry about how…my value was deemed to be less than that of the men involved.”
But when the interviewer asks if she’s referring to the widespread rumor that she cheated on Ed Sheeran with Niall Horan — an incident that supposedly inspired Ed’s hit song “Don’t” — Ellie clarifies, “No! I’m not referring to that. That was crazy.”
She adds, “If people even knew what that whole story really was… well! I’m friends with Ed, I’m friends with his wife. We love to talk about music.”
Ellie also admits that despite her success, she still feels she isn’t taken seriously as a musician.
“Is it my soft voice?” she asks. “I occasionally think if I returned to my natural dark brown [hair], I might be taken more seriously. Then I think: why should I change? I like the blonde. It feels like part of my identity.”
By Andrea Dresdale
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