Ed Sheeran says his decision to quit Twitter had nothing to do with his polarizing “Game of Thrones” cameo on Sunday.
In an Instagram post on Wednesday, Sheeran wrote that he “was always intending to come off Twitter,” and the timing of his Twitter departure — just two days after the episode aired — had nothing to do with the backlash he received on the platform.
“I am in [‘Game of Thrones’], why the hell would I worry what people thought about that,” he wrote. “It’s clearly f—–g’ awesome. Timing was just a coincidence, but believe what you want.”
Sheeran was roasted on Twitter by “Game of Thrones” fans for the appearance, but the episode’s director Jeremy Podeswa defended the cameo in an interview with TheWrap, saying that the scene was meant to serve as an “entirely unexpected” respite for Arya (Maisie Wiliams).
The “Shape of You” singer had previously announced that he wasn’t going to use Twitter anymore, but didn’t go so far as to delete his account. “I’ve actually come off Twitter completely,” he told The Sun earlier this month. “I can’t read it.
“I go on it and there’s nothing but people saying mean things. One comment ruins your day. But that’s why I’ve come off it.”
The vast majority of Sheeran’s tweets have since been deleted. The only ones that seem to have remained are the ones linking to his posts on Instagram. The singer’s Twitter bio has also been changed to “I don’t use this anymore, please follow me on @teddysphotos on instagram, lots of love x.”