Watch ‘SNL UK’ Skewer Ed Sheeran for ‘Sitting on the Fence’

By Emily Zemler

Emily Zemler

Saturday Night Live UK took aim at Ed Sheeran after the recent controversy involving his Loop tour. The late-night show’s second season premiere opened with a sketch about King Charles and Princess Diana that ended up focusing on Sheeran’s inability to pick a side.

In the sketch, Charles, played by Larry Dean, is given a new AI bot (Jack Shep) by pair of tech billionaires (Celeste Dring and Freddie Meredith) at Buckingham Palace. The bot is a “Deeply Intelligent, Autonomous, Neurokinetic Android,” a.ka. “DIANA.” The AI goes rogue and shoots the billionaires, leading Charles to say, “We must do everything we can to resist.”

“Or maybe we shouldn’t,” responds Annabel Marlow as Sheeran. “I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation. I was just outside sitting on the fence. Thing is, Your Majesty, I don’t like to take sides. I don’t want to alienate any of my fans, humans or robots. A lot of my tickets are bought by scalping bots. You know, sometimes, when it comes to conflicts, the bravest thing you can do is to say nothing at all.” The faux Sheeran then sings a song about how both sides can be equally right.

Later on the episode, “Weekend Update,” hosted by cast members Ania Magliano and Paddy Young, again focused on Sheeran. “This crisis is the worst thing that has happened to Ed Sheeran fans since their head injury,” Magliano quipped. Young added, “Say what you want about Ed, but he has always been a passionate advocate of causes that are allowed.”

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