Ed Sheeran spring cleans Twitter after 'Thrones' cameo

[July 19, 2017]  LONDON (Reuters) - Ed Sheeran's Twitter page reappeared on Tuesday with a spring clean of old tweets after a brief disappearance prompted speculation that the singer had quit the social media platform after mixed reaction to his cameo on TV show "Game of Thrones."

Sheeran's Twitter account, which boasts 14 million followers, appeared to have been deactivated on Monday. On Tuesday, it was live again, but many of Sheeran's 30,000 tweets, including recent posts and comments from fans, had been deleted.

A representative for the British singer did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Sheeran was active on Instagram on Tuesday, posting a photo of a cat and a picture from the set of "Game of Thrones." On Sunday he also posted photos and a video of his "Game of Thrones" cameo.

Sheeran's scene on Sunday's HBO medieval fantasy series, in which he plays a singing soldier who encounters character Arya Stark, garnered mixed reception from avid "Game of Thrones" fans. Many criticized his cameo as distracting in a show that does not usually use celebrities.

The 26-year-old singer, whose latest album, "Divide," topped charts in the United States and Britain earlier this year, has been vocal about his dislike of Twitter.

He told Britain's Sun newspaper earlier this month that it was "nothing but people saying mean things" and that he had stopped using the platform regularly.

(Writing by Piya Sinha-Roy in Los Angeles and Mark Hanrahan in London; editing by Alexander Smith and Leslie Adler)

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