Ed Sheeran Snubbed In Music Industry Repeatedly Over Appearance

English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran has become a huge star over the past few years, but when he started out on making a life for himself in music back in 2008, his looks kept him from breaking in.

Sheeran admitted that his red hair and chubby shape led to record label bosses snubbing him prior to his stellar 2011 breakthrough “+” which has sold in the millions all over the world. But before his success, he said that he had to fight industry executives for his chance at stardom.

“Every single label I had gone to at the time had told me this song wasn’t a hit. They said this song wouldn’t work,” he said. “And the fact that I was slightly chubby and ginger was not a good ‘marketing tool’ for them. So it did definitely feel like it wasn’t going to happen.”

After his independently released EP No. 5 Collaborations Project, Sheeran managed to catch the attention of Elton John and Jamie Foxx. He eventually signed to Asylum Records after picking up a major following online.

He now says that he is proud of his looks:

“Being an individual makes you stand out from the crowd,” he said.

Interestingly, red-hair discrimination has sort of become “a thing” recently. We reported several months ago that the NYPD issued a memo to the force explaining that red-hair discrimination would no longer be tolerated.

Though red hair is considered by the EEOC in Washington D.C. as a basis of discrimination, several red-haired NYPD officers opined at the time that the issue was overblown.

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[Image via: Christian Bertrand / Shutterstock]