Culture
Ed Sheeran Reportedly Passionate About Causes That Are Allowed
By Bruno Von Falken, . BSN Network. Satire.
SNL UK aired a sketch this week satirising Ed Sheeran, Britain's most beloved ginger philanthropist and careful manager of his own controversy-free public image, depicting the multi-Grammy-winning artist as a passionate, tireless, professionally enthusiastic advocate for causes that have already cleared legal, cleared PR, and been approved by a panel of brand safety consultants.
The sketch, which ran approximately six minutes and involved Sheeran delivering an impassioned address from what appeared to be a TED Talk stage decorated with the words "BE KIND (Terms and Conditions Apply)," captured something that a significant portion of the British public has apparently been waiting years to see said out loud by someone other than their most sarcastic friend.
In the bit, the Sheeran character announces his support for Clean Water, Orphaned Animals, and the general principle that Difficult Times are Difficult. He then pauses, visibly moved, and clarifies that he is not referring to any specific policy, government, corporation, war, famine, or named human being currently making things difficult.
"I just think we all need to come together," the character says, voice breaking, to sustained applause from an audience who have apparently also agreed not to ask what that means.
The real Sheeran, who has sold more than 150 million records and managed in the process to offend approximately nobody, has long been admired in industry circles for a quality that his team has privately described as "strategic warmth." He supports mental health. He supports local communities. He supports the idea, in general, of things being better than they currently are, while declining to speculate on what made them worse.
Elton John, who has known Sheeran since he was a teenager and has never once in his life been accused of keeping his opinions to himself, offered a comment to the press this week that may or may not have been intended as a defence.
"Ed is one of the most genuine, loving, caring people I have ever met," John said, at a charity gala for an organisation whose work he described as "really important for so many reasons." He did not elaborate on the reasons. He did not have to. Nobody does.
The SNL UK sketch ends with the Sheeran character being handed a trophy by a spokesperson for an unnamed global body. The trophy reads: "For Saying The Right Amount." He cries. The crowd rises. A piano swells. A graphic appears that says simply "ICON."
Social media response in the United Kingdom has been, per tradition, divided entirely between people who found this devastatingly accurate and people who feel that Ed Sheeran is a lovely man who has done a lot for Suffolk and should therefore be exempt from the entire concept of comedy.
A representative for Sheeran confirmed that he had seen the sketch and found it "really funny, genuinely, he loves a laugh," and added that Ed remains committed to his ongoing work raising awareness of the importance of awareness.
The representative did not specify awareness of what.
They were not asked.
The story we are making fun of: https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/snl-uk-ed-sheeran-sketch-king-charles-princess-diana-1235629454/