"I'm done": Why Ed Sheeran is threatening to quit music
Ed Sheehan has made a bold statement about the future of his career, while fighting an "insulting" court case.
The British singer-songwriter is currently embroiled in a copyright case which has seen him take the stand in a New York City courtroom to defend his music.
Sheeran, 32, is being sued over his 2014 single Thinking Out Loud by Structured Asset Sales, who claim that Sheeran's hit took elements directly from Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On.
On Monday morning local time, Sheeran took to the stand for a second time, expressing his exasperation over the case, and saying he will quit music if he loses the case.
"If that happens, I'm done, I'm stopping," Sheeran said, per People, on the stand when his lawyer, Ilene Farkas, asked him what he would do if the court found Thinking Out Loud to be too similar to Gaye's Let's Get It On.
"I find it to be really insulting," Sheeran added. "I work really hard to be where I'm at."
Sheeran didn't clarify his comments once court has adjourned, leaving many fans concerned over the future of his career.
Structured Asset Sales launched the lawsuit against Sheeran in 2018 after purchasing a third of the shares of Let's Get It On from the family of the song's co-writer, Ed Townsend.
During the courtroom proceedings, Sheeran was also cross-examined in court by the plaintiff's lawyer, Robert Frank – which prompted the award-winning singer to complain.
"You're trying to diminish my success," Sheeran told Frank on the stand in response to his line of questioning. "Thinking Out Loud was my first Grammy."
"It was pretty devastating and pretty frightening because it's something we did not do," Thinking Out Loud co-writer Amy Wage said on the stand about the copyright allegations.
Sheeran also referenced the plaintiff's musicologist Alexander Stewart's testimony from last week, which saw Stewart argue Thinking Out Loud and Let's Get It On were "very, very similar".
"I think what he's doing is criminal here," Sheeran said of Stewart's testimony. "I don't know why he's allowed to be an expert."
Image credits: Getty Images