Exclusive: Ed Sheeran's Cousin Jethro Brands Him a 'Snake' & 'Coward'

0:00Piers Morgan:This episode is brought to you by PayPal. You know how a mom's bag has everything? Sunscreen? Snacks? A stapler? The new PayPal app is like that, but for your money. Shop, pay, manage your account, and earn rewards all in one place. And with purchase protection on eligible items, biometric security, and pass keys, you're protected at every step. Download the new PayPal app to get started. See paypal.com slash protection terms. I'm feeling all of my friends and family and people I know abandon me. I'm Jethro Sheeran, he's Edward Sheeran. We're both Sheerans, we're cousins. Seeing what he did to Macklemore, I believe that he kicked him off that shirt.

0:42Because I've witnessed him being a coward for almost 10 years and lying. He's very talented and people think I'm jealous. I'm jealous of what? His looks, his guitar. I don't hate him at all. I wish him the best and I really do. Sounds like you really do hate him. I was very, very brave not to respond to Ed because he was doing all this on TikTok, putting his hands down his trousers, putting his fingers in bins. You're the kind of Prince Harry of the whole thing, aren't you?

1:04Piers Morgan:Maybe. Sticking it to your family, right? When I first started this rapping shit, I felt pressure from haters, became invaded with Cedars and just developed a hater radar made for the stars, kept my grind in the dark. Can I be honest, man? I like Ed Sheeran's music. What you just did to me is illustrate why he's a global superstar and you're not. But he rapped exactly that. You ever watch The Office? You're going to say I'm the David Brent of music? A bit, yeah. Yeah. I think you're a bit silly yourself. Well, Ed Sheeran returned to the stage at the weekend. His first performance since the Macklemore Free Palestine controversy became a global debate.

1:44Piers Morgan:Here's what he told the crowd. I'm feeling all of my friends and family and people I know abandon me. and I look at the end of the week and I see 50 ,000 people who haven't abandoned me. Well, many have speculated that Ed's friends and family reference may have been about his former collaborator and cousin, Jethro Sheeran, who berated the singer as a coward on social media. It's a feud that maybe even the UN might struggle to settle, but let's have a go. Jethro Sheeran joins me now. Well, Jethro, welcome to Unsensitive. Thank you very much for having me. It's a pleasure. I'm a big fan of your show.

2:17Piers Morgan:Thank you. Just for those who don't know the exact relationship, your first cousins, your fathers are brothers. Exactly that. And in the early days, you were both musicians and you had a good relationship. Yes. How would you categorise it? I was living in Bristol. I was making hip-hop music. He was doing more folky guitar stuff. We came together, we joined forces to make a label called Urban Angel, which I have still today. And we were performing together and we kind of... I took him on stage for the first time. I took him to the studio for the first time and then he just kind of went his own way you know he was doing all my shows and supporting me there and then he kind of went and just blew up and then just completely left everything that we'd built behind but not only that took everything down 48 songs many that he wasn't featured on from Spotify and Apple blamed his manager blamed his lawyers and his record label, and then my lawyer finally got a response saying, Ed Shreeran requested and instructed us to take down these songs.

3:29So, of course, I was very disappointed in him. And seeing what he did to Macklemore, I believe that he kicked him off that show. I believe he did it with his team, and then he blamed the promoter. And the promoter went, he did a Scooby-Doo, like, it was you. I mean, we don't have evidence for that,

3:44Piers Morgan:and it's clear that Robert... That's my only personal opinion. Right, I mean, Robert Kraft, who is the owner of the stadium, has not denied that it was him saying, along with other stadium owners, we're not going to allow these shows to happen with Matt LeBall. But you think it was Ed Shearer's decision? I do think that because he's done it to Wiley. There's evidence and, you know, he's dropped Wiley in back in the day. There's evidence on One Extra where Wiley's wiling out on BBC Radio. He left Scorch for the whole grime scene, myself. We built him up and he turned his back on all of us. When you hear him say that he's been let down by family and friends, a lot of people say, well, he's probably talking about you.

4:20Piers Morgan:Maybe. Because you came out and you did criticise him publicly. You called him a coward. Yeah, I did. I mean, for someone who's your cousin, to publicly brand him on social media a coward is a very strong thing to do. Yeah, it's because I've witnessed him being a coward for almost 10 years and lying, and that's just my own truth. I'm here to tell the truth, and it's my truth, and my experience is with him. and I believe he's done the same to Wiley and that's why Wiley has his own beef with him and I also think he's done the same to Macklemore. So I commented, I think it was a coward move for him to do it, blame the promoters and then the promoter turn around and say, and then Macklemore himself said, Ed kicked me off the tour and now Ed said that he begged him to come on the tour and he just turns his back and I think he just wants anything to gain here for himself and I'm his first blood cousin and he's done so much bad things he's written.

5:11When did you last talk to him? I don't even remember, but it's been many years. How many years? Six, seven or something. So it's been a long time. But you were close. We were pretty close, yeah. But early on, I saw the snake in him. And, you know, he was very talented. And people think I'm jealous. But jealous of what? His looks, his guitar, his singing? Well, people say that because, obviously,

5:30Piers Morgan:Ed's become a global superstar. Yeah. He sold 200 million-plus records worldwide, 14 UK number ones, four Grammys, a net worth of nearly half a billion pounds now. And they say, look, by contrast, you have obviously had a far less successful career. Actually, what's behind all this is jealousy. But it's not at all because I don't see success as fame and money. It's fulfilment. Success is happiness within, and I have that. I own my own songs. I've got 560 songs, a massive catalogue. I have creative control. I have my own record label. I'm just about to sign to Universal Records. I'm very happy with my life.

6:09I do not want to sing songs. I'm not into his music. I'm a rapper. I'm a hip-hop artist, and I'm not jealous. Jealous of what? Money? I don't... I'm not money motivated. You're jealous of record sales, fame, fortune? No, it doesn't bother me. I've got songs with Tupac, with Snoop Dogg, with, you know... I've got one coming out with Bob Marley. These are the type of people. Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, Tupac. How have you done a song with Bob Marley? He's dead. Yeah, because that's another story. But there's some tapes been found in a hotel. There's another story, but there's some tapes that have been found from three performances from the Rainbow something in the 70s, and there's some songs that...

6:46You're going to do what with them? Produce them and go to Jamaica with his family. I've got a number one billboard in America. If you look on Wikipedia, it'll tell you that. I've had great success. A number one with Damien Marley, Stephen Marley, Bob Marley's sons. I'm speaking to this state. I know Moprim Shakur, Tupac Shakur. I've got a tattoo here. They gave me permission with Universal.

7:08Piers Morgan:Have you been so successful? How wealthy are you? I'm wealthy in heart, so I'm not going to speak about... If you've been as successful as you're telling me, you would be wealthy. The Daily Mail said that I was living in a box room with my mum's. No, it was Brexit and I had pneumonia. I had a three-bedroom house in Denmark. I've been living in Denmark for seven years. I had a Range Rover. I had my daughter living with me. How wealthy are you today as we sit here? I don't want to talk about my financial. I'm here to defend myself from the hate. You're portraying yourself as the reason, one of the reasons you're not jealous of his money is that you've been very successful.

7:37Piers Morgan:I'm not jealous. Why would I be jealous of his money? Because it's like, I don't need five cars, two yachts, six houses, whatever. I mean, I honestly don't. But why are you reluctant to say how well off you are? Well, okay, my castle is probably worth about 1.6 million. Really? Yeah. Who's valued at that? Duetti. These are your songs? All of them. I own 100%. Ed owns none of his songs. I own 100%. So why do you care about what he's doing? Because I think he's a coward. Why is he a coward? He's moved on to... Well, you said it yourself. You just said yourself that he's a coward, didn't you? No, I was reading out what you said.

8:09No, but you said he was a coward. You said that speech that you made, which was Crocodile Tears, and he's not actually... I haven't called him a coward. Other people have. No, sorry, you didn't call him a coward. That's right, but you did say that that was a poor...

8:18Piers Morgan:You've called him a selfish individual with malicious, cunning ways. Yeah. You said he mocked your mental health, hurt you financially. OK, can I tell you why? Sure. Yeah. So there's a song called A Little Bit More. If you actually go into that song and listen to it, that song's about me. And it talks about, he just flipped it. It's quite clever because he was saying, move out your dad's house. And my brother, he was talking about a sister in it. He says, we're going to die someday. Until that day you die, I will hate you just a little bit more. I will hate you, hate you, hate you. So for him to have, even if it wasn't about me, it's just the most hateful song.

8:56So listen to those lyrics and see why I responded the way I have. And I have my own reply, and it's called Eject, and it's coming out in two weeks, and that's where really my kind of talent is to speak back on it, of how he's treated me and others, and there's a history of the way...

9:14Piers Morgan:What do the rest of your family think of what you've done here? A lot of them. I mean, when he instructed... What does your dad think? Is he still with us? Yeah, I just spoke to him recently. What does he think about it? He wants to stay out of it. He actually told me that I was very, very brave not to respond to Ed because he was doing all this on TikTok, singing that song, putting his hands down his trousers, putting his fingers in bins, doing that to me, basically. And he mocks my mental health. I suffer from PTSD from a very bad trauma from years ago. I've got ADHD, hence I'm talking very fast.

9:45So I apologise for that. But, you know, this is my truth. And I just follow one person. and that is Jesus and I believe in God and I tell the truth and I'm not jealous of his money and all his works.

9:56Piers Morgan:I mean, The Telegraph reported that you had previously accused Ed of using you to get a toehold in music. He did. And then ditching him when he became successful. He did. But they also said that over the summer you waded on speculation the England football team were underwhelmed when they visited their training camp. You said on Instagram, absolutely no hate, wish my cuz the best. They definitely chose the wrong Sheeran to play this gig. Yeah. Wish my cuz the best. I mean... But I do wish him the best because the thing is, right... You don't really. You're calling him a... No, I think I said he's a coward.

10:26A nasty, malicious, cunning coward. He is that, but also... How can you wish that kind of guy the best? Because his success will trickle down to my own. Because everyone, when he's number one, everyone searches. The thing is, people think... You're benefiting from his success. No, together we are because we have songs together, right? I'm Jethro Sheeran, he's Edward Sheeran. We've got a song together. We're both Sheerans, we're cousins. we've got the song together. Why wouldn't I promote it with Ed Sheeran? But all due respect, Jethro, I'm not being funny,

10:55Piers Morgan:but, I mean, there is a Grand Canyon-sized gap between Ed's success and yours. Great. What's your point? Because my point is... I'm not jealous of that gap. If a cousin of mine went public, you know, particularly when I was going through a really tough time... I speak out. I'm open. I've got a big heart. Yeah, but you called him a coward. He is a coward because he won't admit. I found out he lied to me about taking down my songs. He did a massive Scooby-Doo, and when you point your finger, three are pointing back at yourself, and he was pointing all the blame at everyone else. Maybe you're just not good enough.

11:31Maybe what?

11:32Piers Morgan:Maybe that's why he's so successful. If I'm not good enough... And you're not. OK, why is he rapping my lyrics? Why have I written all his songs? And if I'm not bad... You've written all his songs. Not his songs. His first album, he actually says he's me. Look it up. SBTV, his first thing where he thinks that... You're being very bitter about him. I'm not bitter at all. It's just I'm passionate. But he says I'm a Lone Star because I'm not bitter about him. I wish him the best. I really do. I don't hate anyone. Why do you think with Macklemore... I think you want me to feel bitter. It seems like you're saying there's this big gap.

12:03But so what? There's a big gap between you and whoever. Who? I don't know. Whoever. Who? Someone small, a small journalist somewhere.

12:09Piers Morgan:A small journalist? A journalist anywhere. There's a big gap there. But do you care? Does he care about you? Do you obviously care about your cousin? I what? You obviously care about Ed very, very, very passionately. I care about him, the truth. That's what I care about, the truth. Your version of the truth. He would obviously say something different, right? Exactly, you're right. My version of it. Is your view about him being a coward that he didn't speak out about the issue that Macklemore was talking about? My issue and my comment saying he's a coward is because he dropped Macklemore. You don't know that, do you?

12:43You're guessing that. He's done it so many times. Right, but that doesn't mean... But I know him. You don't. I grew up with him since I was a child, so I've had so many experiences.

12:51Piers Morgan:But my point is, you don't actually know he dropped McLemore. Nor do you. No, but at the moment, there's no evidence to suggest he did. All right, but I'm just saying he did. Right. That's my point. And McLemore said he did. Yeah. What is your kind of interest? You've got someone that knows Ed, who's a family member, and you've got the actual person saying it. So what's the likelihood that he did? How many of your family agree with you? I don't know. I've got a massive family, a big Irish family. All of my mother's side... How many in the family, roughly? 60 on one side, maybe. And how many on the other?

13:23Piers Morgan:Maybe 25 or something. So 85 of those, how many agree with you? Probably 80%. 80 % of the Sheeran family? And you can see that on my social media because they stick up for me because it's the truth. 80 % of the family don't like it and agree with you? No, no, I'm saying they just agree that what he did to me was bad. And the song he wrote about me, even if it wasn't about me, it's a disgusting song, hate, hate, hate, and wishes me making fun of mental health and highlighting that to the world, he's the one that started it, so I'm replying. So he's the one that fired. But, you know, I'm not jealous of him.

13:57Do you think I want to look like him, play his guitar, sing like him? No. I don't need his money. I don't want any of that. I'm just passionate about the truth.

14:04Piers Morgan:No, but you are sticking it to him publicly, and you are his flesh and blood. You're a cousin. Yeah, I know, because that's exactly my point. So we raise him in this. I mean, you're the kind of Prince Harry of the whole thing, aren't you? sticking it to your family, right? This episode is brought to you by PayPal. You know how a mom's bag has everything? Sunscreen? Snacks? A stapler? The new PayPal app is like that, but for your money. Shop, pay, manage your account, and earn rewards all in one place. And with purchase protection on eligible items, biometric security, and pass keys, you're protected at every step.

14:40Piers Morgan:Download the new PayPal app to get started. See paypal.com slash protection terms. What's that, sorry? Sticking it to your family in public. People don't like that. I don't care if they don't like it. It's my truth. And I believe in one person. What is your view about Israel? I'm not a politician. I'm here to, you know, if I was a fireman, I'd pay out fires. I'm not a politician. So if you'd been Ed and Macklemore, it was your support act. It came out. Ed knew that two months before Macklemore came on his tour, he knew exactly what that show was going to be about. Bogada or whatever, they're the most biggest band, pro-Palestine band.

15:19But what would you have done if you'd been him? Would you have dropped McNamara then before the tour? I would have had a conversation with him. I wouldn't have put myself in that place in the beginning. So what would you have done?

15:28Piers Morgan:Stopped my tour. You'd have stopped the whole tour? If... Would you have allowed... Hang on, hang on. You said two months before. What tour are you talking about? If I was him or if I was on my... His current tour and I was Ed, what would I do? If you were Ed and Macklemore was your support act, would you have allowed him to be your support act? No, because I don't think he's very good. So you'd have dropped Macklemore too? I would never have had him on because I don't like Macklemore. So you'd have dropped him? I would never have had him on in the first place. You'd have banned him. Sorry? You'd have banned him.

15:58I would have banned him. Yeah. I would never have him in the first place. I'd have joined the Lucas or one of my favourite artists. Why wouldn't you have Macklemore? Why wouldn't I? Because I don't like his music.

16:05Piers Morgan:Because of his political views? No, I don't even know his political views until then. I don't even know who he really was. What do you think of his views? Nothing. Should he be allowed to express them? I think I don't condone anything evil in this world. I believe in Jesus and God. Well, that's lovely words, but obviously he... I know, but I know you want the loop scoop, but I don't... Not really. I'm just asking you what you thought of what he said. I just think Ed's a coward for ditching him, because I wouldn't. 13 years of friendship is more important than getting a phone call who owns the stadium saying, hey, he's not allowed to da-da-da and then lie about it, allegedly.

16:44That's what I think is wrong. Have a conversation.

16:46Piers Morgan:When you see your cousin in tears, acknowledging mistakes, apologising to fans... I think he's crying for himself. Well, let me finish. Calling the devastation in Gaza catastrophic and unjustifiable. He says it's an impossible decision. He's even been, you know, fallen out with family and friends, obviously including you here. Yeah. I mean, is it not time to show a little bit of forgiveness to him? I do, yeah. I mean, I don't hate him at all. I wish him the best and I really do. It sounds like you really do hate him. I don't hate him at all. He wrote He Hates Me. He actually wrote it in a song.

17:17I do not hate him. I'm just here to tell the truth of my truth. What do you want him to do? I just want him to, you know, his fans to stop.

17:26Piers Morgan:Look down the camera three. Yeah. And imagine you're talking to Ed now, because he probably will watch this. What would you say to him? I've got nothing to say to you. I wish you the best of luck just over there. That's it. Finished. It's done. and also tell your fans to leave me alone and stop attacking me, saying I'm jealous because I do not want to have anything you have. Why should they leave you alone if you're attacking him all the time? Because there's nothing to do with them. I'm attacking him. They're his fans, they don't like you. Why doesn't he respond then? They don't like you calling him a coward.