“Why are people hating on him” — Netizens divided as Bengaluru police unplugs Ed Sheeran’s musical equipment mid-basking

British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran was basking in Bengaluru, India on February 9, before he was interrupted by the local police. The police reportedly were unaware of Sheeran's identity and unplugged his equipment while he was singing his hit single Shape of You after approaching the singer. Ed is then seen putting down his guitar and walking off.

Bangalore police noted that event organisers had been refused permission for Ed's performance calling the street one of the busiest areas of the metropolitan city. Bengaluru police official, Shekar T Tekkannanavar told news agency ANI:

"A member among the event organisers came to meet me to seek permission for the Streetside performance at Church Street. I refused to give permission because Church Street gets very crowded. That is the reason he was asked to vacate the place."

Netizens took to Pop Base's X post to express their opinion on the incident saying,

"If he had permission, there's no need for that polic office to stop the show. Unnecessary interference." - a user noted

"ed is like a generational worldwide artist? do they not know who he is? lmao" - another user noted

"Finally, a cop doing the Lord’s work. Should’ve unplugged him back in 2011 before he unleashed a decade of wedding playlist terrorism" - a user opinionated

"Don't blame policeman. He don't know ed. He just doing his work" - a user pointed out

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"We had permission to busk," says Ed Sheeran

While Bangalore police told news channel ANI, that Ed Sheeran did not have permission to busk, Ed later took to his Instagram account to clarify saying,

"We had the permission to busk, by the way. Hence, us playing in that exact spit was planned out beforehand. It wasn't just us randomly turning up. All good, though. See you at the show tonight."

The artist has been in India for the 15-day leg of his The Mathematics tour. Sheeran performed in front of thousands of people at an open-air ground in Bengaluru on February 9. He was accompanied by the Indian singer Shilpa Rao.

Ed Sheeran surprised Indian fans by singing two hit songs in Telugu with Shipla. Sheeran also played alongside legendary Indian composer AR Rahman in his Chennai show.

After his Bengaluru performance, Sheeran will head to Shillong for a concert scheduled for February 12 and will conclude his tour with a show in Delhi-NCR on February 15.