Is the Viral Ed Sheeran Song that Pays Tribute to Charlie Kirk Real? Inside the Rumor

The death of Charlie Kirk was a pretty major news story, and it led to eulogies from some unlikely places, as well as plenty of condemnations of political violence. While there were certainly some memorials from sources you wouldn't expect, one of the most unlikely places appeared to be Ed Sheeran, who allegedly released a seven-minute track called "Rest in Peace Charlie Kirk."

As the track started to go viral online, some naturally wondered whether it was real. Here's what we know about the song and where it came from.

The song, which was released on the YouTube channel AI Mediviza on Sept. 13, is not from Ed Sheeran. The video for it features clips from Kirk's shooting, as well as pictures of him with his wife and two children.

The video claims that the song is from Ed Sheeran, but that claim is false. Sheeran has not released any song or statement about Kirk's death, and has never suggested that he knows Kirk or is aligned with him politically.

In fact, the channel description for AI Mediviza even says that they make AI-generated music videos to give their viewers a chance to see "the future of music."

The music, then, is AI-generated, and the channel is known for uploading AI-generated music that is accompanied by AI-generated videos. What's unclear, though, is whether "the future of music" is misleading people about whether well-known artists released or did not release music.

Although Ed Sheeran was not one of the people who weighed in on Kirk's death, his death was nonetheless a major event in the news. Kirk, a right-wing firebrand best known for founding Turning Point USA and touring colleges across the country, was unafraid of saying a wide variety of controversial things. His death has led to a pretty fierce debate about his legacy and how he should be remembered.

What's been true for most people across the spectrum, though, is that they have made it clear that they oppose political violence of all kinds and abhor the news of his death, regardless of his beliefs while he was alive.

Although celebrities have a wide array of different political beliefs, it's fair to say that the average celebrity probably was not a huge fan of Kirk or the views he espoused.

We don't know for sure whether Ed Sheeran might have listened to Kirk's podcast or known him in some other way, but there's no reason to believe that he did. Ed Sheeran has not been all that outspoken about politics over the course of his career, but most have assumed that he leans more toward the left than the right.

Regardless of his opinions about Kirk, though, we know for sure that he did not write the song memorializing that is being circulated under his name. The video is intentionally misleading, but don't be misled by it.