Ed Sheeran has revealed that he did not approve his vocals being used on an upcoming charity single, and admitted that he would have “respectfully declined” had permission been sought.
It was recently announced that Bob Geldof, Midge Ure, and Trevor Horn are releasing a brand new version of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” to mark 40 years of Band Aid, the charity supergroup that was first created in 1984.
But not everybody is happy to be a part of this charity initiative again, with Ed taking to his Instagram story on Sunday to explain why he wouldn’t have agreed to the idea if he’d been asked — due to the way it perpetuates negative stereotypes of Africa.
Ed shared a screenshot of British rapper Fuse ODG’s post, which read: “Ten years ago, I refused to participate in Band Aid because I recognized the harm initiatives like it inflict on Africa.”
Writing alongside the screenshot, Ed told his 48 million followers: “My approval wasn’t sought on this new Band Aid 40 release and had I had the choice I would have respectfully declined the use of my vocals. A decade on and my understanding of the narrative associated with this has changed, eloquently explained by @fuseodg.”
What do you make of Ed’s statement? Let me know in the comments!
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