Why Ed Sheeran’s Game of Thrones cameo is bittersweet

While every Game of Thrones fan is super-excited about the return of the show last Sunday, Ed Sheeran is not. The award-winning singer, on Tuesday evening, seemed to have temporarily deleted his Twitter account following a mix of trolling and heavy criticism from the show’s fans.

ENTERTAINS SOLDIERS WITH A SONG

In the Game of Thrones season seven premiere, Sheeran appears in a scene with actress Maisie Williams, aka Arya Stark. Arya approaches a camp where Sheeran and a band of other soldiers are camping. They welcome her and provide her with food and drink. Sheeran then breaks his melodious voice to entertain the soldiers with a song.

After Sheeran’s cameo on the show, on Sunday, GoT fans lit Twitter with both criticism and praise. By midnight Tuesday (July 18) a section of the singer’s fans noticed that his official Twitter account had been deleted. Most of his fans, irate at the turn of events, turned to the same platform to express their dismay.

@aSophieLally tweeted, “Just don’t understand how people can hate on Ed Sheeran so much to make him delete his twitter like sorry what he’s one of the nicest people.”

@scrimptonMike tweeted, “Game of Thrones has now killed off Ed Sheeran’s Twitter.”

Sheeran, who has recently expressed his disappointment at Twitter users’ lack of tolerance, was not all disappointed at his cameo. By contrast, the singer used both Twitter and Instagram to express his gratitude for appearing on the show.

“#GameOf Thrones This Show never disappoints.” @edsheeran tweeted. The  “Shape of You” hit-maker also posted selfies of him wearing his GoT gear.

Away from social media, Ed Sheeran received lots of praise from GoT director Jeremy Podeswa, who hailed Sheeran’s acting prowess by noting that he did a lovely job.

“In the world of the show, he did a lovely job, and he belongs in that world,” Podeswa told E NEWS. In another interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Podeswa expressed his admiration for Sheeran’s personal character during the shooting of the show.

“He (Ed Sheeran) could not be more kind. He just wanted to do a good job. He was very cute. The only thing he has asked is if he could change was the key of the song, and he asked it very tentatively,” Podeswa said.

WANTED TO DO A GOOD JOB

“He wanted to do a good job and he was very concerned about that. He hung out with everybody on set all day, with all of the other guys sitting around the campfire. He was a team player. I swear to God, he was really just like one of the guys. He was lovely,” he added.

On Twitter, Sheeran’s diehard fans were not at all disappointed by his appearance on the show.

@JosephWAult, one of Sheeran’s fans tweeted, “Girl: I’ve never heard that song Ed: oh it’s a new song…off my new album.”

“I was so focused on Arya in that scene I didn’t really notice TBH. It was a good scene,” @slouched_atlas said.

“That’s a pretty song. I’ve never heard of it before.” @Game of Thrones tweeted.

Two weeks prior to his GoT cameo, Sheeran reported to  “The Sun” newspaper that he had quit Twitter after a wave of trolling.

“I’ve actually come off Twitter completely. I can’t read it. I go on it and there’s nothing but people saying mean things,” Sheeran said in a July 3 interview. Fortunately, Sheeran never really kept his promise. Even after his GoT cameo trolling, the English singer bounced back on the social platform almost immediately.

Twitter trolling, particularly here in Kenya, is not a new thing. Renowned gospel singer Jimmy Gait has in recent months found himself on the receiving end of trolling on multiple occasions. When the singer released his cover of Adelle’s “Hello,” he received massive criticism. In the months that followed, Gait was trolled to the point that he broke down on live TV when he discussed his reaction to cyberbullying. News presenters Julie Gichuru and Betty Kyalo are other famous Kenyans whom #KOT has not always been kind to.

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