Ed's Trying to Capitalize on Those Ellie Rumors

Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran has previewed his new song “Don’t” in an advertisement for Beats By Dre headphones — and it’s definitely going to have people talking. You remember “Don’t,” don’t you? (Ha!) It’s the song Sheeran performed live during his SNL appearance last month — the song he told Billboard was based on the “100 percent true” story of when someone he was seeing “ended up physically involved” with one of his friends while they were all staying at the same hotel. The guilty parties in question are rumored to be singer Ellie Goulding and One Direction’s Niall Horan. The drama!

While there hasn't been any official confirmation from Sheeran that “Don’t” is actually about Goulding and Horan making sweet, sweet love together, this new advertisement definitely tries to capitalize on the rumors. In the clip, Sheeran arrives back at his hotel room in a jealous rage, slamming the door behind him. He immediately tosses his jacket on the bed and reaches for his phone and his Beats headphones — he feels like writing a song. After pouring himself a stiff drink (or two), Sheeran gets to work, all the while experiencing painful flashbacks in his head of an unidentified woman slowly undressing. The anguish!

The result of Sheeran’s tortured songwriting is “Don’t” — and the studio version of the song sounds even better than the live version, if that’s even possible. Granted, Sheeran has been absolutely everywhere lately — he’s been teasing new music from X online, he has a song on The Fault In Our Stars soundtrack, AND he has a new MTV documentary coming out soon — but every little bit of promotion helps! This new Beats by Dre spot should put “Don’t” and the Goulding/Horan rumors back into the spotlight just in time for X’s June 23 release date. Very clever, indeed.

I can’t wait to hear the full studio version of "Don't"!

Image: Beats by Dre/YouTube