In January, Ellie Goulding lashed out at a commenter on Twitter who made a reference to that tired old rumor — which isn’t true — that she cheated on Ed Sheeran with Niall Horan. She responded, “False!!!!!” but then deleted the comment. Now, Ellie says she wishes she hadn’t even dignified the accusation with a comment.
Speaking to the British paper The Independent, the singer says, “I shouldn’t give in to that. For me to think that the right thing is to respond to rumors, knowing that in real life there aren’t just ‘heroes’ and ‘villains’ like there are in the fake world of social media and tabloids … I think, by replying, I’m kind of making out that world is real, or adding validity to a world that is manufactured to keep us scrolling and keep us in fear and fascinated by celebrities.”
“I think that the best thing for me is to stay in the real world,” she continues. However, she admits, “Sometimes you just gotta – occasionally, every, like, five years or so – put something out there.”
But in general, Ellie says she’s always been frustrated with how she and other female pop stars have been treated by the media.
“I’m a female artist, and I get defined by my male partners – sometimes people I’ve only been on dates with!” she complains. “You’re not allowed to have a fling! You couldn’t possibly have a fling, no, that’s not allowed: you’ve got to have solid relationships and be married.”
Ellie happens to be married now and is a mother to a toddler son, Arthur, who’ll be coming along with her when she kicks off her Higher Than Heaven tour at the end of April.
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