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SNL UK mocks Ed Sheeran over Macklemore row in Charles and Diana sketch

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Cite

Cooper-Fiske, C. (2026, September 20). SNL UK mocks Ed Sheeran over Macklemore row in Charles and Diana sketch. Evening Standard. https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/celebrity-news/ed-sheeran-macklemore-diana-saturday-night-live-the-king-b1297652.html

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Evening Standard · collected 2026-09-20 · by Casey Cooper-Fiske

Quick Summary

SNL UK aired a sketch mocking Ed Sheeran over his decision to remove rapper Macklemore from his tour due to comments about Gaza, depicting Sheeran as neutral in conflicts to avoid alienating fans. The sketch featured a King and an AI robot representing Princess Diana discussing the conflict between humans and robots, with Sheeran portrayed as indecisive on taking sides. The show’s Weekend Update segment further criticized Sheeran for his stance, suggesting it could jeopardize his US tour, while also targeting Gillette Stadium owner Robert Kraft's involvement in the dispute.
Written by AI on 2026-09-20, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

In October, SNL UK aired a sketch mocking Ed Sheeran over recent controversies involving his tour support act Macklemore. The sketch involved a robot version of Diana, Princess of Wales and the King Charles, with Sheeran's character arriving to comment on the conflict between humans and robots by saying "or maybe we shouldn’t" take sides. This came after Macklemore was dropped from Sheeran’s tour following controversial comments about Gaza. Additionally, SNL UK criticized Sheeran fans, suggesting that any cancellation of his tour would be worse than a “head injury,” highlighting the mounting pressure on Sheeran amid these controversies.

Written for “Ed Sheeran Mocked On SNL UK” on 2026-10-30, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Ed Sheeran Mocked On SNL UK
Entertainment · 2 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 11% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
New York Post
⚖️ Centre Hedges 0 of 12 claims Outlet record 66/100
Evening Standard
Hedges 0 of 24 claims Outlet record 65/100
“The articles discuss different reactions to Ed Sheeran's decision to drop Macklemore from his tour, not the same specific incident or time.”
Evening Standard
Hedges 0 of 30 claims Outlet record 65/100
“While both articles discuss Ed Sheeran's performance after a conflict involving Macklemore and comments about Gaza, Article B mentions SNL UK mocking the situation in a Charles and Diana sketch, which is a separate event from Sheeran's concert.”
Evening Standard
Hedges 0 of 30 claims Outlet record 65/100
“Article A describes Ed Sheeran performing and addressing his thoughts about continuing his career during a show in Philadelphia after the Macklemore row, while Article B discusses a sketch on SNL UK mocking the incident, which is a different specific event.”
Evening Standard
Hedges 1 of 20 claims Outlet record 65/100
“Article A discusses planned protests and ticket changes for Ed Sheeran's concert due to Macklemore's removal from the tour, while Article B describes a sketch on SNL UK mocking the situation.”
Washington Examiner
Hedges 1 of 20 claims Outlet record 70/100
“Article A describes Ed Sheeran's speech addressing the controversy before a concert, while Article B mentions an SNL UK sketch mocking the situation involving Sheeran and Macklemore.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
18
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
11%
2 of 18 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
65/100
Evening Standard's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
2
Entertainment
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-20 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Evening Standard · 7829 article(s) · 62 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 62 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Casey Cooper-Fiske
64 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The New Jersey-born singer replied: “Well, after I wrote Just Kids, because Robert asked me to write it hours before he died, I promised him I would.
🔮 The programme’s opened with George Fouracres as Mr Burnham and Emma Sidi as Liverpool mayor Steve Rotheram sitting on the Gogglebox sofa, with the Prime Minister telling his friend he had “all the types of crisps a relatable bloke would have in their house”.
🔮 Sunday’s results show also saw the surprise announcement of Strictly’s first triple dance-off, which will take place during next week’s Halloween episode.
🔮 In the last picture, Murray could be seen kissing Douglas on the cheek while holding her baby bump, with the caption: “The exciting news is finally here.
🔮 The 32-year-old had vowed to change ticket prices for his Proper Massive Stadium Tour ’27 when replying to an Instagram post which claimed tickets would cost up to £130.75 for standing, and now appears to have lowered prices.
🔮 “And I’ve got some advice for you, going forward I would continue to have a rib injury.
🔮 “And I’ve got some advice for you, going forward I would continue to have a rib injury.”
🔮 “The standing will not be split as well, I had no idea about it.
🔮 The 41-year-old, who is partnered with professional dancer Kai Widdrington, missed week four of the BBC dancing show after sustaining a fractured rib, but has confirmed she will take part in this Saturday’s show.
🔮 During the competition the members would regularly “manifest” different things to encourage themselves, so when it came to choosing a name for the band they knew the word felt right.
Also by Casey Cooper-Fiske
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 64 articles by Casey Cooper-Fiske →

Topics

Israel SNL UK Sheeran Sky Ukraine

Subjects

Sheeran PERSON · 7× Ed Sheeran PERSON · 3× Macklemore PERSON · 3× Dean PERSON · 2× Diana PERSON · 2× Sky ORG · 2× Annabel Marlow PERSON · 1× Benjamin Haggerty PERSON · 1× Jack Shep PERSON · 1× Larry Dean PERSON · 1×

Narrative

The Sky show opened with a sketch about the King, played by Larry Dean, and an artificial intelligence (AI) robot of Diana, Princess of Wales which was played by Jack Shep, with the robot’s creators losing control of it, prompting Dean’s character to say “this was the problem last time”.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-20
🔮 The King then says that the war between humans and robots has begun and that “we must do everything we can to resist”, before Ed Sheeran, played by Annabel Marlow, arrives and says “or maybe we shouldn’t”.
2026-09-20 · Evening Standard
SNL UK mocks Ed Sheeran over Macklemore row in Charles and Diana sketch · assertive framing

Claims (18 extracted, 2 hedged)

It comes after all of the support acts for the singer’s current The Loop tour announced they were dropping out of the remaining dates after Macklemore, whose real name is Benjamin Haggerty, was removed from the line-up over comments he made about Gaza. asserted
he → come → Gaza
Sheeran played his first show since the row on Saturday, where he said he had questioned whether he “wanted to be an artist at all” following the spat. asserted
he → play → spat
The Sky show opened with a sketch about the King, played by Larry Dean, and an artificial intelligence (AI) robot of Diana, Princess of Wales which was played by Jack Shep, with the robot’s creators losing control of it, prompting Dean’s character to say “this was the problem last time”. asserted
this → open → character
The King then says that the war between humans and robots has begun and that “we must do everything we can to resist”, before Ed Sheeran, played by Annabel Marlow, arrives and says “or maybe we shouldn’t”. asserted
we → say → Marlow
Dean then says: “Ed Sheeran, what in the devil are you doing here?” asserted
you → say → devil
To which Sheeran replied: “I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation, see I was just outside sitting on the fence.” asserted
I → reply → fence
The King then asks for Sheeran’s help, to which he replies: “Thing is your majesty, I don’t like to take sides, I don’t like to alienate any of my fans, humans or robots, a lot of my tickets are bought by scalping bots. asserted
lot → ask → bots
“You know, sometimes when it comes to conflicts, the bravest thing you can do is to say nothing at all.” asserted
you → know → nothing
He goes on to sing a song about how “both sides are equally right”. asserted
sides → go → song
The sketch came after Earl Spencer made a series of damning claims about the King in a new memoir chronicling the life of his sister Diana. uncertain
Spencer → come → sister
The show’s Weekend Update section also took aim at Sheeran, with Ania Magliano opening it by saying: “This week, the Israel/Palestine conflict just got serious, that’s right Ed Sheeran’s US tour is under threat.” asserted
tour → take → threat
She then asked “will Sheeran have to cancel the tour?”, before adding “there’s a very real risk that he won’t”, and said the incident was “the worst thing to happen to Ed Sheeran fans, since their head injury”. asserted
incident → ask → injury
Read More The comedian went on to describe Macklemore as a “good guy with bad music”. asserted
comedian → read → music
Paddy Young added: “To his credit, Sheeran, seen here looking at both sides of the issue, has been a long-standing supporter of Ukraine. “Say what you want about Ed, but he’s always been a passionate advocate of causes that are allowed.” asserted
that → add → causes
The section also took aim at Gillette Stadium owner Robert Kraft, who reportedly told Sheeran the shows at his venue would not go ahead if Macklemore remained on the tour. uncertain
Macklemore → take → tour
Magliano said: “The 85-year-old, seen here picking a coffin, has released his own statement on the Israel/Palestine conflict saying quote, ‘our goal is to work together to build bridges’. asserted
goal → say → bridges
Oh Robert, it’s going to break your heart when you find out who’s bombing those.” asserted
who → go → those
SNL UK returns on September 26 at 10pm on Sky and the Now streaming service, when Amelia Dimoldenberg will host and Rachel Chinouriri will be the show’s musical guest. asserted
Chinouriri → return → Sky
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