A 2005 episode of South Park left Ed Sheeran seeing red. In a recent interview with Slam Radio (via The Independent), the British pop star said that “Ginger Kids” from Season 9, “fucking ruined my life.”
The controversial episode began with Cartman bullying children with red hair, even going so far as to claim they have no souls. However, a prank by Stan and Kyle led him to believe that he had contracted “gingervitis,” which in turn prompted him to lead a violent “Ginger Separatist Movement.”
Sheeran said that before “Ginger Kids” aired, “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. People never knew what a ginger was in America.”
As he explained, “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.”
Check out a clip from the episode below.
Wren Graves/Consequence Of Sound