Ed Sheeran Used In BBC Three's Mental Health Joke About Britney Spears On Twitter!

BBC Three pulled an April Fool's Day joke on Twitter recently and it involved singer Ed Sheeran. Instead of laughter, the network got a list of angry fans and dislikes on social media. Many Twitter users accused the channel of making fun of Sheeran, Britney Spears, and mental health issues in general. The studio took the post down, after promising to fulfill its goal of showing programs that talk about mental health issues.

On April Fool's Day, BBC Three posted a picture on Twitter. It showed Ed Sheeran shaving off his ginger hair. The caption read, "BREAKING NEWS. Ed Sheeran has gone full 2007 Britney." Of course, fans of both musicians did not find this amusing. It talked about the mental breakdown that Britney Spears experienced in 2007. While the network did pull down the tweet, many fans took a screenshot and went after the channel, according to Metro.

They claimed that BBC Three made fun of people with mental health issues. The photo was reportedly just a mock-up of Ed Sheeran, but the studio came under fire for it nonetheless. To address the controversy, a BBC spokesperson said, "BBC Three has a history of supporting mental health issues and the tweet was not intended as a reference to mental health, or designed to cause any offence."

The tweet was taken off, but fans noted that it was an ironic one. British singer Ed Sheeran himself advocates for better treatment and aid for young people with mental health issues. In fact, he helped during a campaign during the World Mental Health Day in October. In a BBC press release, Charlotte Moore, the Director of Content, said that BBC Three will be focusing on shows that will talk about mental health issues.

In fact, the BBC Corporation will have a slew of shows that will deal with mental health. BBC One will show the lives of ten runners, who have mental health issues, participating in the 2017 Virgin Money London Marathon. BBC Two will discuss schizophrenia and its treatment. Finally, BBC Three will have a mental health documentary campaign by Jack Rooke, but only Ed Sheeran and Britney Spears fans might have a hard time forgiving the slip-up.