German DJ Zedd has claimed he has been permanently banned from China after liking a Tweet from South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
Last week, South Park stirred up controversy with China after their episode titled ‘Band In China’ was fittingly banned in China.
Designed to poke fun at the country’s censorship, the episode featured references to Winnie The Pooh (and his supposed similarities with General Secretary of the Communist Party Xi Jinping), along with references to biopics being censored to remove ‘offending’ content.
Understandably, this news was met with expected laughter from fans of the show, after it was revealed that any video clip, episode, or forum that discusses the show had been made inaccessible, while social media and fan pages were also removed, effectively resulting in a blanket ban of the program across the country.
In response to the band, series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone took to social media to issue a mocking ‘apology’ to Chinese officials, referencing an ongoing controversy surrounding Daryl Morey, owner of the Houston Rockets in the NBA.
“Official apology to China from Trey Parker and Matt Stone,” the message began.
“Like the NBA, we welcome the Chinese censors into our homes and into our hearts. We too love money more than freedom and democracy.
“Xi doesn’t look just like Winnie the Pooh at all. Tune into our 300th episode this Wednesday at 10! Long live the Great Communist Party of China! May this autumn’s sorghum harvest be bountiful! We good now China?”
However, while many might have assumed this whole issue would soon fade into obscurity, it has since been brought back into the spotlight thanks to musician (and apparent Jimmy Eat World fanatic) Zedd, who claims he too has been hit with a ban from Chinese censors.
I just got permanently banned from China because I liked a @SouthPark tweet.
— Zedd (@Zedd) October 10, 2019
Taking to Twitter recently, Zedd revealed to his followers that “I just got permanently banned from China because I liked a South Park tweet,” resulting in a litany of confusion from his followers.
As CNBC notes, Zedd’s publicist confirmed this news, explaining that “this is true, yes, but we don’t have anymore info to give you at this time.”
Likewise, CNBC noted that it’s unclear if this means that the artist’s music has been banned, or if he’s facing a travel ban to the country, considering that his music is still available on Chinese streaming service QQ Music.
Interestingly though, the tweet in question that Zedd liked was not the mocking apology from the show’s creators, but rather a fairly innocuous message that saw the South Park share a picture of a cake while celebrating their 300th episode.
However, the episode in question – titled ‘Shots!!!’ – continues the plotline of the previous episode, poking fun at the Chinese government while also criticising the anti-vaccination movement.
At this stage, the details of Zedd’s Chinese ban are unclear, and it is unknown whether further details will be made public in the future.
Check out ‘The Middle’ by Zedd:
