It's been more than 15 years since South Park slammed the Jonas Brothers - and Joe Jonas has broken his silence on how band really felt about the episode.
When it comes to Trey Parker and Matt Stone's animated sitcom, no one is safe from criticism.
In case you've somehow been living under a rock, South Park emerged on the scene in the early 1990s as one of the first viral internet videos, before memes were even a thing, and then blessed our screens officially in 1997.
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Since then, our favorite 10-year-old Colorado crew, Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Kenny McCormick, and of course Eric Cartman, have given us countless laughs - and just as many controversies.
The cartoon has brought many of Hollywood's VIP celebrities to animated life in a rather ugly light, from Britney Spears, Tom Cruise and Barbara Streisand to Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin, Lorde, Paris Hilton and Kanye West, alongside literally dozens more.
The South Park episode where Mickey Mouse beat up the Jonas Brothers
Now, Joe Jonas of the Disney Channel's famed boy band, Jonas Brothers, has spoken out about the time the South Park creators turned on them.
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It was an episode titled The Ring on season 13 that parodied the trio, taking aim at their teenage heartthrob status and the fact they wore purity rings as a symbol of their commitment to abstaining from sex before marriage.
In a nutshell, Joe, Nick and Kevin Jonas are managed under the strict fist of a malevolent Mickey Mouse in the episode. Then, when Stan, Kyle and Cartman confront the brothers for promoting the purity rings, it resonates with the band, though Mickey Mouse flies into a rage about their refusal to continue with the strategy and savagely beats the animated Joe Jonas for taking a stand against the 'boss.'
The episode dropped just weeks after the band's concert movie, Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience, which had hit theaters in 2009, and apparently at least one of the brothers as well as their pastor father, Kevin Jonas Sr., failed to see the funny side.
What the brothers said about the 2009 episode
Speaking out for the first time since the debacle on the Last Meals podcast, Joe revealed he was actually flattered by the parody, even if he was the only one who liked the episode out of his family.
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"Our skin was not as thick back then," he said. "I think I was the only brother that loved it."
Explaining why the singer, now 35, liked the tongue-in-cheek gag, he 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 Jonas family 'super offended' by South Park
Joe's revelation comes as Nick confessed in a Reddit 'ask me anything' in 2016 that he wasn't a fan of the depiction - as it hit a bit too close to home.
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And Kevin Jonas Sr., who helped the boys in the early stages of their career, was also apparently 'super offended' at the time, according to the Jonas Brothers' photographer as per the 2024 book, Disney High: The Untold Story of the Rise and Fall of Disney Channel's Tween Empire.
Now though, Joe confirmed his brothers have since come around and even 'love' the episode.
He continued: "To be made fun of by a comic is usually a sign that they give a s**t, and they care, and it's funny."
"They really went for us."
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An 'honor' to be parodied by the show
He also said he interpreted the episode to take aim at the Disney corporation for pushing tween boy bands than criticising the band themselves, adding: "I think they were going more so on, like, the idea of what it is."
To this day, he said he still quotes parts of the episode and considers it an 'honor.'
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"I mean, what an honor to get my a** kicked by Mickey," he said. "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."
In the Reddit thread, Nick had explained he didn't find it amusing whatsoever when it aired, because it all felt a bit too real.
He explained: "When it first came out I didn't think it was funny to be honest, but probably because I was actually living all of that in real time and so it just made it harder to come and live your life as a young person and have all that going on."
"But 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."
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Disney Channel 'thrilled'
Although the show twisted Disney's leading mascot into something way more sinister, Disney Channel president Anne Sweeney apparently liked the episode too, even when the Jonas family didn't.
Revealing in the 2024 novel, she said: "We were absolutely thrilled because it meant that the rest of entertainment actually noticed us.
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"I thought it was funny."
Topics: South Park, Joe Jonas, Disney, Celebrity, Film and TV, Music
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