Here’s why Ed Sheeran wasn’t allowed into the Grammy’s after-party

For the fourth year in a row!

ed sheeran grammys
(Image credit: Rex)

For the fourth year in a row!

Ed Sheeran was undoubtedly one of the most important names in the room at the 59th Grammy Awards last Saturday. The 10-time nominee was up for the Song of the Year award, and performed his new hit Shape of You at the ceremony – currently number one in both the US and UK.

You would think, therefore, that his name being on the Grammy’s after-party list would be a given, and that he would be able to breeze past the doormen unquestioned, right? Think again.

The British singer songwriter – currently holding both number one and number two spots in the UK charts, was denied entry to the Grammy’s after-party, held by his own label. Yes, really.

ed sheeran grammys

‘That’s actually happened four years in a row,’ Ed told Ryan Seacrest on the radio the next day, ‘and that’s not just my label’s after-party, that’s just after-parties in general’

It wasn’t that he was too drunk or because he was wearing the wrong clothes, it was instead for an even sillier reason – the venue was at full capacity after just one hour. Ed wasn’t the only famous face to get snubbed at the door with Oscar-winning actor Adrien Brody and DJ Pete Tong also getting turned away.

‘Do you know what I don’t get?’ Ed explained, ‘it’s like you walk into those parties and there’s four musicians there and everyone else there are people from LA who didn’t even go to the Grammy’s and just want a party to go to.’

After receiving the bad news, he moved on to a different event. ‘I went to Benny Blanco and Diplo’s party and arrived there super-early’ he explained. ‘I was like, “This is really cool, no one’s here!” And suddenly 2,000 people turned up and I was like, “I’m going.”’

Ed blames the size of people’s entourages as the problem: ‘The more entourage you have [in the US] the more the next person has to have. It’s a power thing. If you turn up with 30 people it looks cool.’

‘I did a party at the EMAs in Milan and my rule was nobody was allowed to come with an entourage or bring bodyguards,’ he explained. ‘Bieber turned up on his own and played pool with Twenty One Pilots.’

Poor Ed. It is a relief to know that even megastars struggle to get into parties though.

Jenny Proudfoot
Features Editor

Jenny Proudfoot is an award-winning journalist, specialising in lifestyle, culture, entertainment, international development and politics. She has worked at Marie Claire UK for seven years, rising from intern to Features Editor and is now the most published Marie Claire writer of all time. She was made a 30 under 30 award-winner last year and named a rising star in journalism by the Professional Publishers Association.