Joe Jonas Calls Brutal ‘South Park’ Parody An ‘Honor’
South Park obviously has a long history of roasting public figures — from Barbra Streisand, to Mel Gibson to Rob Schneider, who, to be fair, subsequently starred in movies that were way worse than The Stapler.
One of the show’s harshest celebrity burns targeted The Jonas Brothers. The Season 13 episode “The Ring” illustrated that the group was really being manipulated by an abusive Mickey Mouse, who forced them to wear their purity rings because, as Mickey tells the trio, “that's how we can sell sex to little girls.”
Somewhat surprisingly, the episode’s fans now include two-thirds of the Jonas Brothers.
In a 2016 Reddit AMA, Nick Jonas itted that “when it first came out I didn't think it was funny,” explaining that “I was actually living all of that in real time, so it just made it harder to come and live your life as a young person and have all that going on.” But he revealed that “years later and once the purity rings were no longer around, it was very funny to me, and I've actually watched the episode a few times."
Similarly, in another AMA, Joe Jonas claimed that he “loved the episode” and thought “it was the funniest thing at the time.” He also astutely pointed out that “they were kind of attacking Disney more than me, so I didn't really feel threatened. Mickey kicked my ass so I won the episode by being beat up by Mickey Mouse.”
Per Entertainment Weekly, Joe Jonas recently appeared on Mythical Kitchen's Last Meals, and addressed the parody once again, noting that he was already a fan of Trey Parker and Matt Stone prior to the episode. “I think I was the only brother that loved it,” Jones said. “I thought it was hilarious, because I watched South Park, and I was like, ‘This is so funny, I know what they’re doing, they make fun of everyone!’”
The singer also made it clear that he feels a certain amount of pride in having been turned into the cartoon victim of a psychotic mouse. “To be made fun of by a comic is usually a sign that they give a shit, and they care, and it’s funny," Jonas argued. “They really went for us.”
“I mean, what an honor to get my ass kicked by Mickey,” Jonas continued. “I think it's one of my favorite episodes. And later on, now, we just laugh. We love that. I think it's so great. Definitely a claim-to-fame for me.”
It’s hard to imagine that Jonas’ fellow musician Russell Crowe feels the same way.
