{"id":216757,"date":"2026-01-02T15:07:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T15:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/216757\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T15:07:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T15:07:07","slug":"stormzy-responds-to-claims-of-selling-out-over-mcdonalds-deal-as-he-opens-up-about-being-crippled-by-sadness-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/216757\/","title":{"rendered":"Stormzy responds to claims of “selling out” over McDonald’s deal as he opens up about being “crippled by sadness” in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stormzy<\/a> has revealed that he is coming back stronger after being \u201ccrippled by sadness\u201d in 2025, and hit back at claims of him \u201cselling out\u201d after collaborating with McDonald\u2019s.<\/p>\n

The team up was first announced at the start of last year, when the UK rapper teamed up with the fast food chain for the UK and Ireland\u2019s first Famous Order meal<\/a>. It let fans order his favourite meal, and a range of merch was also made available via the McDonald\u2019s app.<\/p>\n

Some found the partnership to be controversial given McDonald\u2019s perceived support of Israel, and highlighted how it seemed to stand in conflict with Stormzy\u2019s apparent beliefs. The artist (real name Michael Ebenezer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jr.) has previously been vocal in his support for Palestine, playing at a benefit concert to raise funds for aid in January 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions (BDS) movement previously supported a global boycott<\/a> of McDonald\u2019s, after franchises in Israel gave out thousands of free meals to Israeli forces following Hamas\u2019 attack on the country on October 7.<\/p>\n

Around that same time of the collaboration being announced, fans noticed that the rapper had removed a social media post from October 2023<\/a> that outlined his support of Palestine.<\/p>\n

Stormzy would later speak out against the \u201ctwisted narrative\u201d<\/a> that he took down the post due to the partnership with McDonald\u2019s, and explain that he removed it, as well as many other posts, as part of a \u2018clean-up\u2019 of his page.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn that post I spoke about #FreePalestine, oppression and injustice and my stance on this has not changed,\u201d he wrote at the time. \u201cThe brands I work with can\u2019t tell me what to do and don\u2019t tell me what to do otherwise I wouldn\u2019t work with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stormzy has released a statement to address the \u2018twisted narrative\u2019 following backlash over his deal with McDonalds pic.twitter.com\/tgczLIJSPs<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Melissa Sigodo (@melissasigodo) February 21, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Now, Stormzy has made another insightful post to mark the start of 2026, and explain how the past 12 months have been a transformational period for him, and have seen him strive to overcome the feeling of being \u201ccrippled by sadness\u201d.<\/p>\n

Beginning the lengthy post, Stormzy explained how he faced \u201ca few unexpected twists and turns\u201d at the start of 2025, which \u201cmade me more resilient and put the final nail in the coffin of my desire to be understood\u201d.<\/p>\n

Adding how the McDonald\u2019s deal led to \u201ca lot of you [questioning] both my character and my integrity,\u201d he said that his younger self would have felt \u201ccompelled to quickly explain himself, and let you know that there is no world in which he would ever trade his humanity for cash\u201d.<\/p>\n

Now though, he \u201ccouldn\u2019t give a single fuck to explain that fact\u201d as he doesn\u2019t \u201cneed to explain anything to anybody\u201d.<\/p>\n

Shedding light on the tough times he has faced over the year, the \u2018Hide & Seek\u2019 rapper said that he was determined not to let \u201c2025 have me on the backfoot, so I came out the first quarter with one hand down my trousers and my middle finger up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen towards the end of the summer I found myself crippled by sadness and I was struggling again,\u201d he added, also sharing that he was able to persevere thanks to his faith and his close friends.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was tested physically, spiritually, professionally and creatively. I had no choice but to reassess every detail of my life,\u201d the post later shared. \u201cSo yes it\u2019s been painful and at times I hated it but as the year ends and I reflect I can say that I am so so so so grateful for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Going forward, he concluded, he has \u201cgained a lot of clarity around who I am as a man and who I am as an artist, and in 2026 I want to honour that clarity with execution\u201d.<\/p>\n

He wrapped up by sharing how he would be distancing himself from social media going forward, and is currently still underway with work on his fourth album.<\/p>\n

Around the time of the controversial deal with McDonald\u2019s, the company\u2019s CEO Chris Kempczinski denied that the company has taken sides in the conflict, calling the boycotts \u201cdisheartening and ill-founded\u201d and saying they are a result of \u201cmisinformation\u201d.<\/p>\n

In other Stormzy news, last summer saw the London rapper awarded an honorary Cambridge University doctorate<\/a> thanks to his Stormzy Scholarship to Cambridge<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The initiative was launched in 2018, and promised to fund two Black British students to attend the university each year. This expanded to 10 students annually when HSBC UK agreed to support the initiative<\/a>, and as a result, 56 students have attended the university with the tuition fees and maintenance costs covered.<\/p>\n