Ed Sheeran's black sheep cousin Jethro goes to war on under-siege singer. Shocking comments about his music... and the bitter family feud that tore them apart: 'He's a coward'

Published: 19:05 BST, 25 September 2026 | Updated: 22:33 BST, 25 September 2026

Ed Sheeran 's estranged first cousin Jethro Sheeran does not hold back when it comes to his famous relative's current crisis.

'I'm just highlighting what he does. He takes advantage of you and then disregards you,' the 44-year-old claimed to the Daily Mail.

Our one-hour interview followed a scathing statement that the little-known rapper, known professionally as Alonestar, shared on Instagram, in which he labeled Ed a 'selfish individual with malicious, cunning ways.'

'It's all coming out! I'm ashamed of my cousin Ed and what he's done,' he added.

Jethro who, it must be said, may be regarded as someone with a sizeable axe to grind, denied that he is kicking his cousin while he is down, instead insisting that he has simply been trying to expose the 'real' Ed for years - but only now does he feel people are finally listening.

Ed Sheeran's first cousin, Jethro Sheeran (pictured), spoke exclusively to the Daily Mail about his famous relative's public backlash over his tour with Macklemore

Ed and Jethro, pictured here at around 2016, are cousins through their fathers, John and James, who are brothers

Ed, 35, is currently under siege for failing to take a firm stance after his opening act, rapper Macklemore, gave a pro-Palestine speech at a New Jersey concert on Ed's Loop world tour.

Macklemore's comments outraged Jewish groups and leaders, including pop star Pink and Robert Kraft, the billionaire owner of Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts (a tour stop) who demanded the rapper be kicked off the tour.

Ed conceded to Kraft's request. And although he claimed his tour promoter forced him into making that decision, the Thinking Out Loud singer still lost almost half a million followers online and several of his support acts for the tour.

But perhaps one of the biggest losses he has faced is those closest to him.

With tears in his eyes, an emotional Ed told his fans while onstage in Philadelphia on September 19: 'I'm feeling all of my friends and family and people I know abandon me.'

But for Jethro, 'those tears were for himself, not for people that have suffered over centuries on either side.'

'I've been in rooms where I've heard his team talk badly and how to wriggle out of things when I was friends with him,' he claimed.

The British-born rapper, who has been estranged from Ed for seven years, said he believes that The A Team singer has been 'playing both sides' of the political aisle in order to reap the rewards from both.

'He's done Robert Kraft's wedding, probably got paid a few million for that,' he said. 'He gets all these brand deals and all these huge PR kind of massive billionaire wedding gigs and things like that, and he just wants to please everyone.

Jethro, who said some other family members are no longer in contact with Ed, claimed that a relative who works on Ed's tour told him that the Bad Habits singer must have been aware that there was a possibility that Macklemore or other supporting acts could use his platform to share their political views onstage.

'He's been friends with Macklemore for 13 years. He knows his political stance,' Jethro claimed. 'So for him to do a Scooby-Doo and go, "What happened there?"

'Also, every single band, Beoga ... are pro-Palestine. Everyone that walked, which is pretty much the whole tour except him, were pro-Palestine. And he knew this.'

Ed acting naive did not surprise Jethro who believes his cousin is 'sneaky.'

But if you look on social media, the lesser-known cousin has faced some name-calling himself - 'bitter' and 'jealous' are noticeably prevalent in his comments section.

'I'm not jealous of his millions because I have a massive catalog of my own that I own,' he said. 'I'm certainly not jealous of his hair or his voice or his guitar or his singing because I don't like his music. I'm more into Tupac and Bob Marley. Certainly not the writer of Shape of You.

'Fame is evil. I've been with him when he started to get famous. You can't get out. It's horrible. There's paparazzi around you. It's not a good life.'

Growing up, Jethro and Ed bonded over their mutual love of music.

Jethro, seen here in an old throwback photo, shut down claims that he is 'jealous' of his more famous cousin, telling the Daily Mail: 'I'm certainly not jealous of his hair or his voice or his guitar or his singing because I don't like his music. I'm more into Tupac and Bob Marley. Certainly not the writer of Shape of You'

Growing up, Ed and Jethro - who are nine years apart - bonded over their love of music

'He is extremely successful. But as my grandma told me, she said, "Jethro, he's extremely popular, but he'll never be as cool as you."'

Jethro said he was 'popular' as a young man and perhaps Ed 'hates' him because he was a 'British martial arts champion,' 'good at mixing music,' 'break-dancing' and a skateboarding champion' in his youth.

By contrast, Ed has openly talked about getting bullied as a kid.

Jethro claimed that part of the reason why his younger cousin became so good at the loop pedal - for which his current tour is named after - is because he 'had no friends to have a band.'

'I think he's quite bitter about his childhood and now he wants his big superstar. He's realized that money and fame doesn't fill that empty hole in you,' Jethro said.

Throwing one more jab at his now-award-winning cousin, he added that Ed 'was the least likely person in the whole family, both sides, to ever make it. And he made it.'

And made it he has. Ed is a global superstar, with four Grammy Awards, seven Brit Awards, and an Emmy Award alongside selling over 150 million records worldwide.

'I'm happy and I'm doing my music, very successful on my own,' Jethro said in response to his cousin's accolades, reiterating he is not jealous.

'I have creative control. I can do whatever I like. I can release when I like. I can do my own artwork. I don't have to submit to the label.'

Jethro said he is satisfied with how his career turned out because he has 'creative control'

Jethro alleged that Ed, who has openly talked about being bullied in his youth, had to learn to use a loop pedal to make music because he had no friends with whom to join a band

Aside from Ed, Jethro claimed he has collaborated on music with notable acts like Macy Gray, Chris Brown and has a new song called Destiny with rapper Future.

However, he and Ed stopped working together about seven years ago.