Game Of Thrones' director defends Ed Sheeran's controversial cameo

On Monday night, Game Of Thrones returned to our screens much to the delight of fans across the globe.

However, even though the first episode of season seven was generally well-received, Ed Sheeran’s bizarre cameo sparked controversy, with the singer eventually deactivating his Twitter account seemingly in response to the immense backlash.

In the episode, Ed appeared as a singing member of the Lannister army, sharing a squirrel with Arya Stark, played by Maisie Williams.

Fans and critics alike blasted Ed’s appearance, with many dubbing it totally “gratuitous” as they stated that his role didn’t add anything to the overall plot.

However, the episode’s director, Jeremy Podeswa, has now defended the star, admitting that he felt sorry for Ed following the negative response.

Speaking to Newsweek, Podeswa explained: “I think Ed did a lovely job, he’s a lovely actor and a lovely person.

“He was appropriate for the part because he needed to sing. If people didn’t know who Ed was, they wouldn’t have thought about it twice.

“The hoo-ha seems to be from things that are outside of the world of the show. In the world of the show he did a lovely job, and he looks like he belongs in that world.”

The director also insisted that they didn’t cast Ed purely for his celebrity status, adding: “I think people interrogated it too much, they’re bringing so much of his [superstar] presence into the thing which is far beyond what anybody was thinking going into it. He is known to the producers of the show and some of the cast, and he’s a gigantic fan of the show.

“As everybody knows, the show really eschews stunt casting – it’s never, ever done that.

“I was quite surprised about the reaction actually because I know he’s very well known and a successful singer but you’re in the bubble of the show – the cast are well known too, everybody is really well known… None of them can walk down the street without being followed.

“You don’t think about that very much in this context.”

Speaking about Ed’s professional approach to the show, Podeswa continued: “He comes with no entourage. There’s nothing connected with him that’s in the least bit self-aware or self-conscious.

“The only thing I don’t feel great about is that Ed is such a lovely guy and really genuine and down to earth.

“He came into this with only lovely intentions to come and do a good job and sing well. So I think that’s the only drag.”

Game Of Thrones’ co-creator, David Benioff, previously revealed that he’d secured Ed’s cameo as a surprise for actress Maisie, who is a huge fan of the star.

Benioff admitted: “For years, we tried to get Ed Sheeran on the show to surprise Maisie, and this year we finally did it.”

The backlash after Monday’s epsiode aired was seemingly enough to make Ed deactivate his Twitter account.

He returned to the social media site a few days later but had deleted years of tweets and added the note: “I don’t use this anymore, please follow me on @teddysphotos on instagram, lots of love x” in his bio.

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