--- title: Ed Sheeran: No Need to Defend Taylor Swift From Katy Perry description: Though close with Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran says he feels no need to defend his friend from Katy Perry in song. canonical: https://time.com/4823872/taylor-swift-katy-perry-ed-sheeran/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-19T17:18:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:30.319Z og:title: Taylor Swift Doesn't Need Defending From Katy Perry: Ed Sheeran og:description: Ed Sheeran won’t be wading into the Taylor Swift/Katy Perry feud anytime soon og:url: https://time.com/4823872/taylor-swift-katy-perry-ed-sheeran/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta38d0d0612524801/6988b7a1cd1bba38aa703c5e/taylor-swift-ed-sheeran.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: The 58th GRAMMY Awards - Backstage And Audience og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Taylor Swift Doesn't Need Defending From Katy Perry: Ed Sheeran twitter:description: Ed Sheeran won’t be wading into the Taylor Swift/Katy Perry feud anytime soon twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta38d0d0612524801/6988b7a1cd1bba38aa703c5e/taylor-swift-ed-sheeran.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Taylor Swift Doesn't Need Defending From Katy Perry: Ed Sheeran ## Video: Katy Perry Reveals Exactly What Led to Her Taylor Swift Feud: 'She Started It' [Watch (HLS stream): Katy Perry Reveals Exactly What Led to Her Taylor Swift Feud: 'She Started It'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/aEkUwbKN.m3u8) (1:33)  _Published 2017-05-23. Katy Perry is telling her side of the story as to what led to her feud with Taylor Swift_ by [Mary Park and Jordan Runtagh / People.com](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Mary Park and Jordan Runtagh / People.com Contributor Jun 19, 2017 5:18 PM UTC  Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift attends The 58th GRAMMY Awards at Staples Center on February 15, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift attends The 58th GRAMMY Awards at Staples Center on February 15, 2016 in Los Angeles, California.Kevin Mazur—Getty Images by [Mary Park and Jordan Runtagh / People.com](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Mary Park and Jordan Runtagh / People.com Contributor Jun 19, 2017 5:18 PM UTC [Ed Sheeran](http://people.com/tag/ed-sheeran/) won’t be wading into the [Taylor Swift/](http://people.com/tag/taylor-swift/)[Katy Perry](http://people.com/tag/katy-perry/) [feud](http://people.com/music/katy-perry-taylor-swift-quotes-about-each-other/) anytime soon. Perry recently made waves recently for appearing to [take aim at Swift in her song “Swish Swish,”](http://people.com/music/katy-perry-swish-swish/) apparent retaliation for Swift’s 2014 track, “Bad Blood.” Though close with Swift, Sheeran says he feels no need to defend his friend in song. “I don’t think she needs that at all,” the “Shape of You” singer, 26, told PEOPLE at the 2017 Songwriters Hall of Fame 48th Annual Induction and Awards Gala at the New York Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York on Thursday night. What does the honoree of the Hal David Starlight Award think about the current trend of diss tracks? “I don’t think feud songs are a hot thing—there’s always been beef songs.” A famous example? “It’s mainly been like Carly Simon,” the British singer-songwriter said. In 2015, Simon revealed that the second verse of her legendary revenge track [“You’re So Vain” is about Warren Beatty](http://people.com/books/carly-simon-says-youre-so-vain-second-verse-is-about-warren-beatty/). Was there a frenzied response when Sheeran penned and performed a musical attack? “I’ve done feud songs before but no one cares about them!” he told PEOPLE with a laugh. Sheeran’s extra fire power might not even be necessary, because Perry, 32, has apparently squashed her beef with Swift, 27, once and for all. “I forgive her and I’m sorry for anything I ever did, and I hope the same from her,” [she told _Thrive_ CEO Arianna Huffington](http://people.com/celebrity/katy-perry-taylor-swift-forgives-feud/) last week. “I love her, and I want the best for her. And I think she’s a fantastic songwriter.” During a performance of “Swish Swish” on Monday, [Perry appeared to bless Swift in her lyrics](http://people.com/music/katy-perry-responds-taylor-swift-release-catalog/). Instead of singing the line, “Don’t you come for me,” in the first verse, Perry sang: “God bless you on your journey, oh baby girl.” _This_ [_article_](http://people.com/music/ed-sheeran-taylor-swift-doesnt-need-to-be-defended-katy-perry-feud/) _originally appeared on_ [_People.com_](http://people.com) Ed Sheeran: No Need to Defend Taylor Swift From Katy Perry ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4823872/taylor-swift-katy-perry-ed-sheeran/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4823872/taylor-swift-katy-perry-ed-sheeran/"},"headline":"Taylor Swift Doesn't Need Defending From Katy Perry: Ed Sheeran","datePublished":"2017-06-19T17:18:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:47:30.319Z","description":"Ed Sheeran won’t be wading into the Taylor Swift/Katy Perry feud anytime soon","url":"https://time.com/4823872/taylor-swift-katy-perry-ed-sheeran/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrity","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta38d0d0612524801/6988b7a1cd1bba38aa703c5e/taylor-swift-ed-sheeran.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mary Park and Jordan Runtagh / People.com"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta38d0d0612524801/6988b7a1cd1bba38aa703c5e/taylor-swift-ed-sheeran.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The 58th GRAMMY Awards - Backstage And Audience","caption":"The 58th GRAMMY Awards - Backstage And Audience","creditText":"Kevin Mazur—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4823872/taylor-swift-katy-perry-ed-sheeran/","name":"Taylor Swift Doesn't Need Defending From Katy Perry: Ed Sheeran"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Katy Perry Reveals Exactly What Led to Her Taylor Swift Feud: 'She Started It'","description":"Katy Perry is telling her side of the story as to what led to her feud with Taylor Swift","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/aEkUwbKN/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-05-23T14:40:12.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/aEkUwbKN.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4823872/taylor-swift-katy-perry-ed-sheeran/","duration":"PT1M33S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4823872/taylor-swift-katy-perry-ed-sheeran/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```