Jeremy Clarkson pulls no punches as he blasts Bake Off’s Nadiya Hussain over Ed Sheeran ‘white tears’ swipe

The singer had been engulfed in controversy after rapper Macklemore was dropped from the US leg of his Loop tour for declaring “Free Palestine” and projecting images of Gaza during his support sets at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey earlier this month.

Addressing the crowd, a visibly emotional Mr Sheeran said: “I’ve had to take and make difficult decisions, and I am making mistakes, and I’m so, so sorry.”

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He described the preceding seven days as “the worst week of his life” and said he felt abandoned by friends and family. He also broke his long-held stance of keeping politics off stage, calling the situation in Gaza “catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate” whilst describing the October 7 attacks as “horrific.”

Ms Hussain, who has one million Instagram followers, reacted to Mr Sheeran’s emotional return to the stage by sharing a clip by therapist Megan Cooper criticising the A Team singer for shedding “white tears”.

In the video, Ms Cooper said: “For those of us in white bodies, we need to understand and educate ourselves on white tears. White tears is a cultural tactic using emotion, consciously or unconsciously, to deflect accountability, to gain sympathy, and to centre self in conflict and challenge, particularly during discussions around racism and oppression.”

She argued that Mr Sheeran’s display was at fault for more than just its racial connotations. “Not only does emotion meet whiteness, but it also meets patriarchy. So what we have is not just tears, it’s power.”

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Ms Cooper added: “If the tears of Palestinians and black and brown and indigenous communities carried as much gravity, genocide would not happen.”

She urged those “in white bodies” to “educate and inform ourselves so that we don’t replicate systems of harm whilst we are trying to dismantle them.”

Mr Clarkson has now had his say on Ms Hussain’s decision to publish Ms Cooper’s comments to her vast fanbase. “Former Great British Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain has shared a video accusing Ed of crying ‘white tears’ during his tearful apology for whatever it is he’s done,” he began in The Sun.

“White tears? I’m at a loss I’m afraid. I have literally no idea what’s meant by this.”

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The former Top Gear presenter then brought Guardian columnist George Monbiot into the conversation. “I’m equally confused by a chap called George Monbiot, who told us this week about something called ‘petro-masculinity’,” Mr Clarkson wrote, adding that Mr Monbiot claims fast-driving men are demonstrating “a violent, misogynistic, climate-denying version of manhood.”

Slamming them both, Mr Clarkson savagely penned: “Lefties do get their knickers in a right old twist, don’t they?”

The 66-year-old farmer had previously rallied to Mr Sheeran’s defence in an earlier column, branding the pile-on against the singer as “bullying” and arguing that the 35-year-old was being punished not for anything he said but for choosing to remain silent on the conflict.

“They want him to sound off on Palestine, and because he’s not really that sort of person, the keyboard warriors have sent him to Coventry,” he wrote.

He reserved particular anger for Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters, who had posted a furious video on social media attacking Mr Sheeran. In the clip, Mr Waters called the singer a “p***k” whilst praising Macklemore for doing “the right thing.”

Mr Clarkson branded Waters “the worst bully of them all” and “a deeply unpleasant and cruel man,” describing Mr Sheeran by contrast as “almost unbelievably polite and likeable.”

Away from the Macklemore saga, Mr Sheeran’s tour suffered a further setback on Friday when his concerts at Gillette Stadium in Boston were cancelled owing to severe weather warnings across New England.

The venue is owned by billionaire Robert Kraft, who had previously banned Macklemore from performing there, labelling the rapper’s pro-Palestine remarks “hate speech.”

Macklemore has since announced a Free Palestine tour with dates in London, Dublin and Paris. He also donated his entire $1 million fee from the Loop Tour to humanitarian aid organisations working with Palestinians.

In a statement on Instagram, the rapper wrote: “It’s 2026. Being apolitical during a genocide doesn’t work anymore. People are asking artists to show up, educate themselves and be in community. To use the stage for more than entertainment.”