The power of cartoons!
Ed Sheeran claims his life was “ruined” after South Park released an episode slamming “Ginger Kids” in 2005 — and he’s still not over it! The Brit blasted the ep during an interview with Slam Radio, recalling how his orange-hued hair was made fun of in the adult comedy, in which lead character Eric Cartman gave a “hate speech” about how people with ginger hair and pale skin are creepy and suffer from a disease called “gingervitis.”
Related: Ed Reveals Why He & His Wife Picked A ‘Strange’ Name For Daughter Lyra Antarctica!
Check out a clip from season 9, episode 11 (below).
Uhhh, yeah. It’s easy to see why Sheeran hates that episode so much, especially since he battled years of bullying for being ginger before it premiered. The Bad Habits vocalist recalled:
“Having red hair in England was always a thing that people took the piss out of you for, but it was never something in America.”
When he first arrived in the US, people loved his hair… until the South Park episode premiered. He reflected:
“People never knew what a ginger was in America. That episode of South Park f**king ruined my life.”
Oh, no!! The 30-year-old explained he was just beginning to gain confidence in his unique locks and was even being complimented for the first time! Then everything changed:
“I was going to America and everyone was like, ‘I love your hair dude.’ And I was like, ‘Oh my God, people like my hair?’ And then I remember that episode coming out and that was just it worldwide for the rest of my life.”
Ugh! That’s honestly so sad!
The sitcom creators aren’t too worried about hurting a few feelings, though. The show, which first premiered in 1997, has been going strong for 23 seasons and 309 episodes. Last year, the series inked a $900 million deal with Viacom CBS. Wow!!
Also, for what it’s worth, everyone watching the show knows Cartman is a bully, therefore making whatever he says on the show known to be not cool. All the other characters usually bash him for what he’s saying, because it’s supposed to be obviously NOT okay.
So when you consider that, as well as the massive paycheck in their pockets, don’t expect co-creators Matt Stone or Trey Parker to feel bad. Speaking to Bloomberg last August, Stone said the money and their fanbase allow them to “do whatever we want.” Cancel culture doesn’t scare them either, as he added:
“No. As you can see from this deal, we have ‘f**k you’ money now. We’re more interested in it than whining about it. It’s a legit cultural change. We explore it all the time in the show.”
Guess that means Ed’s never getting an apology for how messed up his life got once that episode aired. Interestingly, despite the problematic episode, the songwriter is still a fan of the series and wants to voice his own character, “even if it’s very offensive.” Maybe he could help re-write the narrative about gingers then!
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[Image via MEGA/WENN & HBO Max]
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