Ed Sheeran Takes a Lie Detector Test

Vanity Fair

The "Old Phone" singer takes Vanity Fair's infamous lie detector test. Did Ed ditch his iPhone as an excuse to not get back to people? Would he take advice from Harry Styles? Does Ed think Rihanna's version of 'Shape Of You' would have been better than his? Has Ed been invited to Benny Blanco &amp; Selena Gomez's wedding?  Director: Adam Lane Garcia Director of Photography: Jack Belisle Editor: Cory Stevens Talent: Ed Sheeran Producer: Madison Coffey Line Producer: Natasha Soto-Albors Associate Producer: Zayna Allen Production Manager: Andressa Pelachi Production Coordinator: Elizabeth Hymes Talent Booker: Paige Garbarini Camera Operator: Duell Davis Gaffer: Niklas Moller Audio Engineer: Rebecca O'Neill Production Assistant: Karla Torres, Rafael Vasquez Post Production Supervisor: Christian Olguin Supervising Editor: Erica DeLeo Assistant Editor: Justin Symonds

Transcript

00:00You cameoed in the seventh season of Game of Thrones and people had some strong reactions to it.

00:06Yeah.

00:07Are you ready to talk about it yet?

00:11Ed, do you know why you're here today?

00:13I am here today to go through a lie detector test.

00:19This is Alu, our polygraph expert.

00:22How you doing?

00:23Are you ready to be hooked up?

00:25Guess so.

00:30I know it sounds weird, but I hate feeling my blood pumping around my body.

00:34I mean, no wonder people get nervous. It feels intrusive.

00:38Does it have to be that tight?

00:40No.

00:41No.

00:42Is that okay?

00:43Yeah, thank you.

00:44Ed, to begin, I'm going to ask you a few questions to calibrate the machine.

00:48Okay.

00:49Is your full name Edward Christopher Sheeran?

00:52Yeah.

00:53Are you from England?

00:54Yeah.

00:55Are you about to take a polygraph exam?

00:58Yeah.

00:59Are you nervous?

01:00Yeah.

01:01Why?

01:02I just...

01:04It just doesn't feel great, does it?

01:07Lou, are we ready to go?

01:09We're ready to roll.

01:13We're going to start with the category of your life.

01:17You have over 60 tattoos.

01:19Are there any that you regret?

01:21Yeah.

01:22Which ones?

01:24Kind of all of them.

01:25I sort of feel like I should either have no tattoos or I should have all my tattoos.

01:29Do you regret the Puss in Boots one?

01:32Uh...

01:33Yeah.

01:34I guess like, I guess at some point in life it would have been nice to have a clear body,

01:38but I kind of like the fact that all of my tattoos tell a story.

01:43Have you seen any fan tattoos of yourself that you think they should regret?

01:48Yeah, of course.

01:49Have you seen any tattoos of your face?

01:52Yep.

01:53What's that like?

01:54Uh...

01:55Surreal.

01:56But then I've got tattoos of other people's faces on me, I guess, so I can't really judge.

02:03Are there any other body modifications that we might not know about that you'd like to

02:07share today?

02:08Uh...

02:09I got drunk in New York once and got the top of my ear pierced, and then I got infected,

02:13and then I took it out.

02:15Okay.

02:16Can you finally settle the rumours and confirm or deny?

02:20Do you have a BBL?

02:21Tell me what you think a BBL is, because I don't actually know specifically what all

02:30the letters stand for.

02:31Brazilian butt lift.

02:32I do not have a Brazilian butt lift, no.

02:35Lou?

02:36Truthful.

02:37Thanks, Lou.

02:39Hmm.

02:40You famously ditched your iPhone and now only use a flip phone.

02:44Have you ever used your flip phone as an excuse for not getting back to people?

02:48Yeah, I think that's the whole point about not having a phone, is I can choose the sort

02:55of speed of which to get back to people.

02:58That's the thing about having a phone.

02:59If someone, like, messages you and you message them back, and then they message you back,

03:03you then have to just be in a conversation, and if that happens 19 times with 19 different

03:08people, then, yeah, it's full on.

03:10Have you ever not replied to a text because it would take too long to type on the keypad?

03:14Yeah, but voice recording is good, isn't it?

03:17You always have to warn someone when you've done a voice note, though, that's too long.

03:20Just, like, listen to it until you're at 2X.

03:23What's the longest voice note you've ever left?

03:26I don't leave long voice notes.

03:28My wife sends me long voice notes, like, sometimes ten minutes, and, yeah, ain't nobody

03:33got time for that.

03:34So you don't listen to your wife's voice notes?

03:36I do, but just on, like, top speed.

03:38Have you ever not listened to a voice note from your wife?

03:47Yeah.

03:48Truthful.

03:49She'll be excited to hear that.

03:52You learned Eminem's lyrics to help you get rid of your stutter.

03:56Mm-hmm.

03:57Does that make you Eminem's biggest stan?

04:00I mean, obviously I like him, but there's definitely people that take it to, like, a different level.

04:04True.

04:05Which verse was the hardest to learn?

04:09A verse on, he has a song called Criminal.

04:12It's the last verse.

04:13Windows did it on my ride when I drive.

04:15When you have a start at all, that's quite difficult.

04:17When you first met him, did you reveal that you used him to get rid of your stutter?

04:23No, he'd heard it already.

04:25Uh, there'd been, like, chatter online about it, but he had heard that.

04:28We talked about Marvel films.

04:30Which is your favorite?

04:32Marvel?

04:33Iron Man?

04:34Probably.

04:35Truthful.

04:36Thanks.

04:37Did you ever call him Marshall?

04:40Yeah.

04:41Yeah, it gets to a point where it's weird to call him Eminem, because everyone in his circle

04:45calls him Marshall, and just gets to a point that if you aren't doing it, then you're not

04:49in the circle sort of thing.

04:50Does it feel weird to call him Marshall?

04:52Yeah.

04:53Super weird.

04:54Truthful.

04:55Moving on to your career.

05:00You've removed all explicit lyrics from Multiply after a taxi driver told you he wouldn't let

05:05his daughter listen if it had profanity.

05:08Can you share some of those explicit lyrics with us now?

05:11I had a song called Don't, and the lyrics were don't f*** with my love, and so I took

05:15f*** out, and that was just don't with my love.

05:18I think it was in Los Angeles where the taxi was, but I can't really remember much else.

05:23Do you only take advice from taxi drivers?

05:26Uh, no.

05:28No.

05:29Take advice from, yeah, other people.

05:32My dad.

05:33Would you take advice from this man, Harry Styles?

05:36Yeah.

05:37Depends what sort of advice.

05:39I don't think I would look good wearing the same thing.

05:44What's the best advice he ever gave you?

05:47I don't recall.

05:48I don't know.

05:49What about the worst?

05:51Uh...

05:53Well, we're both British, and so we both have quite a sort of like dirty sense of humour,

05:58so probably something filthy.

06:01Such as?

06:02Uh, you're gonna have to use your imagination, but I'm sure you have a good imagination.

06:08Deceptive.

06:09Interesting.

06:10Thanks, mate.

06:11Speaking of Harry Styles, you once said that Harry Styles definitely hasn't got a little thing.

06:18Can you tell us what you meant by that?

06:21Uh, I was talking about his, um, his penis.

06:27Truthful.

06:28Good to know.

06:30You wrote your Grammy-winning song, Thinking Out Loud, in only 20 minutes.

06:36Do you now try to write all your songs in under 20 minutes?

06:40I do think that if a song isn't like, almost formed in an hour and a half, then it probably

06:45isn't a good one.

06:46What's the fastest you've ever written a song?

06:49As fast as it takes to write down the lyrics, I think.

06:53Yeah.

06:54You originally wrote Shape of You for this person, Rihanna.

06:58Do you think her version would have been better than yours?

07:01Yeah.

07:02Yeah, I think Rihanna's version of anything would be better than anything that I would do.

07:07Do you think you could have done a better version of Bitch Better Have My Money?

07:11I could definitely do a version.

07:13I wouldn't say it's better, but I would, I think I'd be able to sell that, yeah.

07:18Will you write a song for her ninth album?

07:20Uh, yeah.

07:21All songwriters around the world, at all points, submit for Rihanna.

07:27And we write, like, it's one of those things where you go in the studio and you go, oh,

07:30let's try and write a song for Rihanna, because it usually comes out with something interesting.

07:33She's got such a wide, varied taste that it allows you to be quite experimental if you have her in mind for a song,

07:40which is why Shape of You was originally that.

07:42So, yeah.

07:43I've definitely submitted songs for that ninth album in the last seven years.

07:47True.

07:48Hope to hear something.

07:50Yeah.

07:51Yeah.

07:52You've collaborated a number of times with this man, Benny Blanco.

07:55Mm-hmm.

07:56Is it true his first email to you was, I have to ****?

08:00It was actually, I have to poop.

08:04Truthful.

08:05Did you try to back out of the collaboration after receiving that email?

08:09No, because I feel like all artists, if they're actually, like, great artists, are, like, interesting people who are a bit eccentric.

08:16And Benny is, I mean, is eccentric.

08:21But he's sort of like, he looks like he smells really nice now, whereas back in the day he still smelt nice, but he didn't look like he smelled nice.

08:30I think I was in the same boat.

08:31I think we both looked like, you know, we wouldn't be able to, like, do perfume campaigns.

08:37What does Benny Blanco smell like?

08:40Uh, it smells good.

08:43And he's got, like, he does, like, incense in his house and ****.

08:46Like, that's always the sign of someone that thinks about smells.

08:50He's being truthful.

08:52Benny Blanco smells amazing.

08:54Good to know.

08:56Be honest.

08:57Have you been invited to his wedding yet?

08:59Mm-hmm.

09:00Was he at yours?

09:01Yep.

09:02Truthful.

09:03Do you have a favourite song from his and Selena's album yet?

09:08Uh, not yet, no.

09:13I've got to be honest, I bought it on vinyl, and I want to listen to it on vinyl.

09:16I haven't, like, listened to it the whole way through.

09:18True.

09:19I like, I don't necessarily like listening to stuff on streaming.

09:23I really like, I have a room at home that I listen to records in.

09:26And I just like listening to, like, full albums that way.

09:30Speaking of streaming, your song, 18, is often the first song that auto-plays on Apple Music for those who have it downloaded.

09:37Mm-hmm.

09:39Did you intentionally title the song this way so nobody can escape your voice?

09:43It wasn't the intention, but, you know, it worked out.

09:48Do you feel guilty for plunging everyone into a depression?

09:52Ha.

09:53Uh, no, because I feel like there is a song you can download that's like 25 A's.

09:58So there is a choice for it not to start with 18.

10:01Maybe people secretly like it.

10:03Can you name three songs of yours that won't sink people into a depression?

10:07Um, no.

10:12I feel like my, uh, pure existence as a musician is very polarizing.

10:18I think people either love me or they hate me.

10:21So there's definitely songs of mine that are even upbeat that would piss people off.

10:27You've already mentioned you listen to songs most on vinyl.

10:30Do you find yourself skipping any of your own songs?

10:33Yeah.

10:34Are you just sick of the sound of your own voice?

10:37No, it's a song called You Need Me that I wrote when I was 15.

10:40And I was listening to my mathematics compilation the other day with my daughter and it came on.

10:47And it's a different thing when I play it live because there's a lot of energy there.

10:51But I think the recording of it, just the lyrics of like that you've written when you're 15,

10:58when you're 34 can sometimes feel a bit cringe.

11:03Very truthful.

11:05I think we're going to get on.

11:07Have you ever been to a wedding and not heard one of your songs?

11:10Yep.

11:12Did that upset you?

11:13I think someone actually got me on stage to sing the song at the wedding.

11:17So it ended up being heard at the wedding.

11:21Truthful.

11:23Did you normally bring a guitar?

11:25No, but if there's a stage, the joke is if there's a stage, then I'll probably get on it.

11:30I like being on stage and performing.

11:33Did you play Thinking Out Loud at your wedding?

11:36No.

11:38Was that because your wife was tired of hearing it?

11:41Yeah.

11:43And the song's not about her, so I think it'd be a bit weird.

11:47Wow.

11:49Be honest.

11:50How often are people reaching out to have you perform at their wedding?

11:53Every single day.

11:55Your albums are all named after mathematical symbols.

12:00Plus, minus, multiply, divide, and equal.

12:04Do you secretly want to be a mathematician?

12:06No.

12:08Do you like math?

12:10No.

12:11Is it math or maths?

12:13We call it maths.

12:14English language though, so.

12:16Will your next album solve for pi?

12:19No.

12:21Can you solve this quadratic equation?

12:244x squared, minus 5x, minus 12, equals zero.

12:29No way.

12:30Nah, no f***ing way.

12:32You have been friends with this person, Taylor Swift, for over 10 years.

12:40Was it all part of a long con to get free tickets to the Airways Tour?

12:45Yeah.

12:46Truthful.

12:47Do you usually offer to perform at other artists' concerts so you don't have to buy tickets?

12:56Yeah.

12:57Very truthful.

12:59Taylor's Airways Tour is 3 hours and 15 minutes long.

13:03Do you think you could do shows of a similar length?

13:05Yeah.

13:07Very truthful.

13:08Would you come?

13:10If I can get free tickets...

13:13I got you.

13:15That's on the record.

13:18Your new song, The Vow, is about you and your wife Cherry's 10 year anniversary.

13:23Did she have any feedback on the song?

13:26Yeah, she usually has feedback on the song.

13:28She must have liked it, because it's on.

13:31But I can't remember the specific feedback.

13:33Has she ever had harsh feedback on any song?

13:36Yeah.

13:37Example?

13:41Well, they never really...

13:42To be honest, I kind of think if the person you're closest to in your life doesn't like...

13:47A song.

13:48It usually doesn't end up on the record.

13:49Just...

13:50From like...

13:51Some sort of mental...

13:53Thing.

13:54Of like...

13:55I guess you start overthinking it, I think.

13:56But she's like...

13:57Careful with her...

13:59Judgment.

14:01Very true.

14:05You've also admitted that you didn't know how to use a washing machine until you married Cherry.

14:09Mm-hmm.

14:10Did she have any feedback on that?

14:13I still don't think I'd really know.

14:16True.

14:18Ed, do you wash her clothes?

14:19No.

14:21Deceptive.

14:23I wash my kids' clothes.

14:25That explains it.

14:28Be honest.

14:29What common household item do you still not know how to use?

14:34That's kind of the last one.

14:37And it's not that I don't know how to use it, it's just I always fuck up putting the wrong thing in the wrong fucking drawer.

14:41My...

14:42My domain is very much kitchen.

14:44I'll keep that kitchen very, very spick and span.

14:47Okay.

14:49Moving on to...

14:51Pop culture.

14:53For three months, you lived with this person, Courtney Cox.

14:56Mm-hmm.

14:58Is it true that you lived rent-free in her house?

15:01Mm-hmm.

15:03You also spent six weeks sleeping on the couch of this man, Jamie Foxx.

15:08It was a little less than six weeks. I think over the course of the last 15 years, it's been the story. Like, I've never wanted to get in the way of a good story, but yeah, it wasn't as long as six weeks.

15:22So you're saying Jamie Foxx is a liar?

15:24No. I'm saying over the last 15 years, both of us have spoken about the story and it has become a story.

15:35Truthful.

15:36So it's safe to say you're someone who overstays their welcome?

15:40Yep.

15:43At what point did they ask you to leave?

15:46Uh, I actually never got asked to leave and I still stay at Courtney's. Um, yeah.

15:52Yeah.

15:53If Jamie asked to sleep on your couch for six weeks starting today, what would you say?

15:58Yeah, I'd say- I think that'd be quite fun.

16:01You've been frequently compared to this person, Rupert Grint.

16:05That's- that's me.

16:08Are you sure?

16:09That's me.

16:10Yeah, we don't all look the same.

16:13Sorry about that.

16:15This man, Rupert Grint.

16:16Yeah.

16:18Yeah.

16:19He grows a fine beard actually. I kind of wish I could grow a beard like that.

16:21Do you guys ever play Lego House together?

16:25Uh, we shot a music video recently, again, and we did listen to Lego House on the set.

16:33Yeah, because neither of our kids had seen the video.

16:36Have you ever built a Lego with him?

16:39He's built a Lego in a video, but I've never built it with him, no.

16:43You posted this picture of yourself on Instagram.

16:46Mm-hmm.

16:48Can you explain what we're looking at here?

16:50Uh, it's me in a monkey outfit from, like, the Bloodhound Gang Bad Touch video.

16:56And I posted it on Halloween because someone had made an AI thing-

17:02I have no f***ing idea where the AI picture's from.

17:05Like, obviously there must be someone somewhere who has done that pose in an Apple store, I guess.

17:10And my face is AI'd onto it.

17:13Do you regret this photo?

17:14No.

17:16The original picture was AI generated.

17:18Mm-hmm.

17:20Do you think AI is a threat to creativity?

17:22Yeah.

17:23True.

17:25Over the last few years, you've worked at a Starbucks, a piece of place, a bar, and even on an ice cream truck.

17:31Ed, are you worried that you haven't found your calling yet?

17:36Yeah, I'm definitely like Jack of all trades, master of none.

17:40Deceptive.

17:41I mean, obviously I play music and that's my thing.

17:46But yeah.

17:47You think you're good at it?

17:49Yeah.

17:50Truthful.

17:51Your hot sauce, Teddy's hot sauce, is the not-so-hot hot sauce.

17:58Yeah, well we started originally- there's a triple X that we've just put in supermarkets now, but that was the original flavor that I wanted to put out.

18:07And, um, Heinz had suggested going milder first to introduce people to it, because the hot one's really f***ing hot.

18:15It's a proper, like, hoop hurter.

18:18What is hoop hurter?

18:20Uh, like a ring sting, you know?

18:22Like, the next day just f***ing annihilates your hoop.

18:26What is a ring sting?

18:27Well, think about what on your body is circular that might hurt when hot sauce is coming out of it.

18:37Very truthful.

18:40You cameoed in the seventh season of Game of Thrones.

18:43Yeah.

18:44And people had some strong reactions.

18:47Yeah.

18:48Are you ready to talk about it yet?

18:50Of course, yeah. I've been ready to talk about it since the first day.

18:54What would you like to say?

18:55Just that I'm a big Game of Thrones fan, and they asked me to cameo on it, and I said yes, and I imagine anyone else in the same situation would have done the same thing.

19:04And I had two lines in it. It wasn't that intrusive.

19:08True.

19:10You don't think it was intrusive?

19:12I think at the time I was very overexposed and people hated me anyway.

19:16But yeah, there's loads of pop stars that have been in Game of Thrones as cameos.

19:22Do you think Game of Thrones fans will ever forgive you?

19:26Like, maybe. As I said, there's a lot of people in the world.

19:3150% of people that know my music like it.

19:3450% absolutely hate it. There's no one in the middle that's indifferent.

19:37So, yeah, it's very polarizing. So the people that really hate me are never going to forgive. And the people that like me don't care.

19:47Don't care.

19:49You also went on to cameo in Star Wars Episode 9, The Rise of Skywalker. So what's your next cameo in?

19:56I've been asked to be a sheep in a Disney film.

19:59He's thinking about saying no, but truthful.

20:05This is the thing. I haven't said yes yet. I probably will say yes.

20:09Are you hoping to appear in the next season of The White Lotus?

20:12I've never watched White Lotus. I've got to be honest, man. I'm going off TV shows.

20:18I feel like there's so many TV shows out there and everyone is recommending me.

20:22Gotta watch this, gotta watch this, gotta watch this. And yeah, I watched like seven seasons of this one show the other day that just never got good.

20:30And I've just signed out from it. So even if White Lotus is good, I ain't watching it.

20:34Which show did you watch that wasn't that good?

20:37Uh, Walking Dead. Some of it was good, but it f***ing dragged.

20:45Very truthful.

20:47Final question. At any point did you lie during this interview?

20:51No.

20:52And we didn't catch you?

20:53No.

20:55Well, mostly truthful here today.

20:58Look how sweating my f***ing hand was.

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