Ed Sheeran's black sheep cousin Jethro goes to war on under-siege singer. Shocking comments about his music... and the bitter family feud that tore them apart: 'He's a coward'

'He's a coward.'

Ed Sheeran's estranged first cousin Jethro Sheeran does not hold back when it comes to his famous relative's current crisis.

'I'm just highlighting what he does. He takes advantage of you and then disregards you,' the 44-year-old claimed to the Daily Mail.

Our one-hour interview followed a scathing statement that the little-known rapper, known professionally as Alonestar, shared on Instagram, in which he labeled Ed a 'selfish individual with malicious, cunning ways.' 

'It's all coming out! I'm ashamed of my cousin Ed and what he's done,' he added. 

Jethro who, it must be said, may be regarded as someone with a sizeable axe to grind, denied that he is kicking his cousin while he is down, instead insisting that he has simply been trying to expose the 'real' Ed for years - but only now does he feel people are finally listening.

Ed, 35, is currently under siege for failing to take a firm stance after his opening act, rapper Macklemore, gave a pro-Palestine speech at a New Jersey concert on Ed's Loop world tour.

Macklemore's comments outraged Jewish groups and leaders, including pop star Pink and Robert Kraft, the billionaire owner of Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts (a tour stop) who demanded the rapper be kicked off the tour.

Ed conceded to Kraft's request. And although he claimed his tour promoter forced him into making that decision, the Thinking Out Loud singer still lost almost half a million followers online and several of his support acts for the tour.

But perhaps one of the biggest losses he has faced is those closest to him.

With tears in his eyes, an emotional Ed told his fans while onstage in Philadelphia on September 19: 'I'm feeling all of my friends and family and people I know abandon me.' 

But for Jethro, 'those tears were for himself, not for people that have suffered over centuries on either side.'

'I've been in rooms where I've heard his team talk badly and how to wriggle out of things when I was friends with him,' he claimed.

The British-born rapper, who has been estranged from Ed for seven years, said he believes that The A Team singer has been 'playing both sides' of the political aisle in order to reap the rewards from both.

'He's done Robert Kraft's wedding, probably got paid a few million for that,' he said. 'He gets all these brand deals and all these huge PR kind of massive billionaire wedding gigs and things like that, and he just wants to please everyone.

'He'll just follow the money.'

Jethro, who said some other family members are no longer in contact with Ed, claimed that a relative who works on Ed's tour told him that the Bad Habits singer must have been aware that there was a possibility that Macklemore or other supporting acts could use his platform to share their political views onstage.

'He's been friends with Macklemore for 13 years. He knows his political stance,' Jethro claimed. 'So for him to do a Scooby-Doo and go, "What happened there?"

'Also, every single band, Beoga ... are pro-Palestine. Everyone that walked, which is pretty much the whole tour except him, were pro-Palestine. And he knew this.'

Ed acting naive did not surprise Jethro who believes his cousin is 'sneaky.'

But if you look on social media, the lesser-known cousin has faced some name-calling himself - 'bitter' and 'jealous' are noticeably prevalent in his comments section.

'I'm not jealous of his millions because I have a massive catalog of my own that I own,' he said. 'I'm certainly not jealous of his hair or his voice or his guitar or his singing because I don't like his music. I'm more into Tupac and Bob Marley. Certainly not the writer of Shape of You.

'Fame is evil. I've been with him when he started to get famous. You can't get out. It's horrible. There's paparazzi around you. It's not a good life.'

Growing up, Jethro and Ed bonded over their mutual love of music.

'He is extremely successful. But as my grandma told me, she said, "Jethro, he's extremely popular, but he'll never be as cool as you."'

Jethro said he was 'popular' as a young man and perhaps Ed 'hates' him because he was a 'British martial arts champion,' 'good at mixing music,' 'break-dancing' and a skateboarding champion' in his youth.

By contrast, Ed has openly talked about getting bullied as a kid. 

Jethro claimed that part of the reason why his younger cousin became so good at the loop pedal - for which his current tour is named after - is because he 'had no friends to have a band.'

'I think he's quite bitter about his childhood and now he wants his big superstar. He's realized that money and fame doesn't fill that empty hole in you,' Jethro said.

Throwing one more jab at his now-award-winning cousin, he added that Ed 'was the least likely person in the whole family, both sides, to ever make it. And he made it.'

And made it he has. Ed is a global superstar, with four Grammy Awards, seven Brit Awards, and an Emmy Award alongside selling over 150 million records worldwide.

'I'm happy and I'm doing my music, very successful on my own,' Jethro said in response to his cousin's accolades, reiterating he is not jealous. 

'I have creative control. I can do whatever I like. I can release when I like. I can do my own artwork. I don't have to submit to the label.'

Aside from Ed, Jethro has collaborated on music with notable acts like Macy Gray, Chris Brown and has a song called Destiny out now with rapper Future.

However, he and Ed stopped working together about seven years ago.

At the time, he claims Ed's label Warner Music Group demanded that Jethro remove Ed's name and likeness from a song titled Raise Em Up which was recorded in 2010. It was also featured in the 2013 movie All Stars.

'I just felt like I was used, abused, and accused. And he discarded me after he got what he wanted,' Jethro told the Daily Mail.

'I just want people to know what type of person Ed really is inside. And that's a coward. And he did this to me. I've been feuding with him for seven years.'

During their final conversation nearly a decade ago, Jethro said he angrily told his cousin, 'You should just keep everything, Ed. You just have everything. Keep all the publishing, all my writing. Say it was you.' And they never spoke again.

Their feud quietly bubbled behind-the-scenes for a few years until Ed released a track called A Little More, in which he sings: 'I used to love you / Now every day I hate you just a little more (little more) / Life got better when I lost you.

'But every day I hate you just a little more and more and more / Blame it on your history / And say it's not your fault / I can't call you crazy/ 'Cause you could be diagnosed.' 

Jethro said family members told him that Ed had shared with them that the diss track was indeed about him, though, of course, we cannot be sure without Ed acknowledging. The pop-blues song also came at a time in which Jethro was dealing with severe mental health issues.

'When he put out that song,' Jethro claimed it felt like 'he was kicking me when I was down.'

'I was seeing devil's faces and people with three eyes and melting and I was having a proper breakdown. And then he comes out with that song and just was kind of mocking it to a certain degree ... And then he's writing all these horrible things about me and that's going to trigger me. So, he triggers me.'

That's why Jethro said he doesn't feel guilty about speaking out against Ed amid the Macklemore situation. It's, in a way, payback.

He's also set to release his own diss track, titled Eject, in which he'll further address his ongoing feud with his famous cousin.

The turmoil has divided the Sheeran family terribly, the Daily Mail has learned.

Jethro said he no longer speaks to Ed's father, John, who is his uncle, and claimed that some of his family is 'upset with Ed,' while others continue to get their 'free Tuscany holidays' and mooch off of the Perfect crooner.

'Being a millionaire and having fame doesn't make you right,' Jethro said.

'My true family and all my friends, and everyone knows him, that's ever met him through me, know what I did for him, and they just think he's completely out of order and they see him for what he is.'

When asked if he'd ever make amends with Ed, Jethro said he is shutting that door for now but 'who knows' about the future. 

'I'm just disappointed and I think that's the best word. I've got no hate for him. I wish him success,' he said.

'Remember, when he's number one and got all this great success, I've still got songs with him that I own, so it helps me. And I'm proud of him. I just don't like him as a person.'

Speaking directly to Ed, Jethro concluded: 'I wish you the best from my heart, but just far away from me. That's it.' 

The Daily Mail has contacted representatives for Ed who declined to comment. 

The pop star appears to be wanting to move forward with his life. He still has about 17 days left in his Loop tour and shows no signs of calling it off despite public backlash.

Meanwhile, Macklemore announced Thursday that he has launched his own separate Free Palestine tour with dates in Dublin, Paris and London.