Ed Sheeran Breaks Down In Tears After Winning Plagiarism Trial

After winning his copyright infringement lawsuit, Ed Sheeran broke down in tears, saying he was “frustrated” but “happy” with the result.

This comes after he was taken to court after his track Thinking Out Loud from 2014, was compared to Marvin Gaye’s timeless hit Let’s Get It On, leading to accusations of plagiarism.

Now, Ed Sheeran’s rise to fame was prolific. At the time, an extremely shy Sheeran was posting videos online when a rapper, Example, noticed his potential and invited him to tour with him.

Remarkably, Sheeran managed to climb to number 1 on the iTunes chart before ever signing to a record label.

The British singer won the hearts of the nation with his stripped-back vibe and captivating humbleness — he was just a normal guy and his guitar — something that people clearly loved.

In January 2011, the star released yet another EP as an independent artist, which smashed through the charts to number 2 — catching the eye of Atlantic Records, who Sheeran signed with the following month.

Songs such as 2012’s ‘The A-Team’, 2014’s ‘Thinking Out Loud’, and 2017’s ‘Shape of You’ have all earned Sheeran the title of multi-Grammy-award winning artist.

But there’s no doubt that Sheeran comes from humble beginnings. He was once a bullied ginger kid who had to overcome major obstacles to get to be one of the wealthiest and most internationally successful musicians in the UK.

At the age of just fourteen, he packed up his belongings and headed to London to officially launch his music career. But, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, in fact, quite the opposite.

The rising star remained determined in his dream to curate a successful music career for himself, playing small venues, producing his own music, and collaborating with other artists he met along the way.

His global stardom has seen him release 4 critically acclaimed studio albums as well as collaborating with other music sensations such as Beyoncé.

And after all that, he fell in love, later marrying his childhood sweetheart Cherry Seaborn. 

Childhood pals Sheeran and Seaborn both attended Thomas Mills High School in Framlingham, Suffolk.

Although Sheeran admitted to having a crush on Seaborn, she went to study in America making their relationship pretty tricky. 

However, she came back to the UK to live with him in December 2016, after they rekindled their romance in 2015.

And now they share two daughters, Lyra, 2, and Jupiter, 10 months. However, it wasn’t plain sailing for the pair, as the singer has revealed in his new Disney+ documentary, The Sum Of It All , that Seaborn was diagnosed with a tumour while she was pregnant with Jupiter. 

Seaborn was unable to treat the tumour until after she gave birth, and this devastating news coincided with the death of Sheeran’s best friend Jamal Edwards, who helped him become the star he is today. 

Clearly overwhelmed, Sheeran could be seen breaking down during the documentary while discussing the impact the news has had on him and his career. 

Sadly, this isn’t the only devastating news he’s had to deal with recently, as he’s also been accused of plagiarism by Marvin Gaye’s estate.

Last week, Sheeran testified in New York against Kathryn Townsend Gryphon, the daughter of Ed Townsend, who collaborated with Gaye on his 1973 hit song Let’s Get It On.

Kathryn claims that his number-one track, Thinking Out Loud, that was released back in 2014, imitated the classic song. 

She asserts that the two tracks share “overt common elements” and “striking similarities” that infringe on their copyright.

Sheeran responded by stating that he would end his musical career if he were to be found to be at fault. “I find it really insulting to devote my whole life to being a performer and a songwriter and have someone diminish it,” he said.

However, the court ruled in his favour, so luckily we won’t be saying goodbye to his music anytime soon.

The star gave an emotional statement following his win, outside the courthouse.

Sheeran won the case, and released a statement, saying: “It’s devastating to be accused of stealing someone else’s song when we’ve put so much work into our livelihoods.

“I’m just a guy with a guitar who loves writing music for people to enjoy. I am not and never will allow myself to be a piggy bank for anyone to shake.”

He continued: “It looks like I’m not going to have to give up my day job after all.

“But at the same time I am absolutely frustrated that baseless claims like this are allowed to go to court at all.

“Unfortunately, unfounded claims like this are being fuelled by individuals who are offered as music experts in musical analysis,” Sheeran said.

“In this instance, the other side’s musicologist left out words and notes; presented different and simple pictures as melodies and by doing so, created what I think we proved for all to see were misleading comparisons and disinformation to find supposed similarities where none exist, and I think we proved for all to see that they tried to manipulate my and Amy’s song to try and convince the jury that they had a genuine claim.

“I’m very grateful that the jury saw through those attempts.”


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