Ed Sheeran is not holding back in sharing exactly what he thinks about U.S. award shows.
The English singer-songwriter delivered a solid performance at the 2021 MTV VMAs over the weekend and although he appeared happy on stage, Sheeran later admitted during an interview with radio host Julia, on her Audacy segment "The Julia Show," that he found the atmosphere at these events "horrible."
"The room is filled with resentment and hatred toward everyone else and it’s quite an uncomfortable atmosphere," he said. "All the artists are sweet people, but they’re like, surrounded by entourages that want them to win too, so it’s one artist surrounded by ten people and another artist surrounded by ten people and everyone is kind of giving each other the side eye."
Although Sheeran did not single out any prominent names, the VMAs did see its share of animosity between Conor McGregor and musician Machine Gun Kelly, who were involved in an altercation on the red carpet before the event. According to reports, the pair exchanged heated words but were pulled apart before a physical confrontation could occur. Video footage shows McGregor lunging towards MGK. Security then intervenes.
Commenting on the incident, McGregor later dismissed MGK as a "little vanilla boy."
"Nothing happened with me, I only fight real fighters, people that actually fight, you know what I mean," he said. "I certainly don't fight little vanilla boy rappers. I don't even know the guy. I don't know anything about him, except that he's with Megan Fox."
Speaking during "The Julia Show," Sheeran explained that his feelings were not limited to the VMAs, but to other American award shows too.
"It’s at all the other awards shows too; Billboards, GRAMMYs ... AMAs," he listed. "It’s just lots of people wanting other people to fail and I don’t like that."
Sheeran also pointed out that it was not just the award shows but the after-parties that were toxic.
"The after-parties, again ... it’s not just musicians. It’s musicians, all their entourages, then you got influencers and blah blah blah," he said, adding that others shared his feelings.
"People get the same feeling as me at those award shows," he shared. "I’ve spoke to people and they’re like, 'I just felt really depressed afterwards.' The atmosphere is just not nice ... It’s a really, really horrible atmosphere to be in there. I always walk away feeling sad and I don’t like it."
Related Stories:
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.