Topline
Wednesday night’s season premiere episode of “South Park” was rife with jabs at President Donald Trump and Paramount amid the company’s merger with Skydance and its $1.5 billion streaming deal with the “South Park” creators, who skewered the company over Stephen Colbert’s cancellation and Trump’s Jeffrey Epstein ties.
The "South Park" season 27 premiere took aim at President Donald Trump and Paramount. (Photo by ... More
In the season 27 premiere of “South Park,” writer-producers Trey Parker and Matt Stone skewer Trump for using lawsuits to silence opponents, depicting the president suing the entire fictional town of South Park after residents oppose the government’s plan to push Christianity in schools.
The episode depicts Jesus Christ visiting South Park, which he says he had to do because of the “lawsuit and an agreement with Paramount”—an apparent reference to Trump’s now-settled lawsuit against the company—as Jesus asks the townspeople, “Do you really want to end up like Colbert?” referencing the late-night show’s cancellation.
In multiple scenes from the episode, the cartoon Trump jumps in bed with Satan, who is depicted as his lover and in one scene rebuffs Trump, telling him someone commented on his Instagram that Trump is “on the Epstein list.”
“The Epstein list? Are we still talking about that?” the cartoon Trump responds, telling Satan to “relax”—a jab at Trump amid a firestorm of controversy, which has even riled members of his own base, over the Justice Department’s refusal to release more documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, which reportedly include Trump’s name.
The episode knocks Trump multiple times by depicting him with comedically small genitals, which frustrates Satan and enrages Trump when a portrait artist paints him with small genitals.
The episode concludes on a faux Trump public service announcement—an apparent knock at CBS and Paramount, whom Trump claimed will give him airtime for PSAs as part of a settlement—in which a lifelike, apparently AI-generated Trump wanders the desert nude as a voiceover says his genitals are “teeny tiny, but his love for us is large.”
The new “South Park” episode arrives less than 48 hours after Paramount and the show’s creators signed a deal reportedly worth $1.5 billion, under which Parker and Stone’s Park County company will produce 50 episodes over five years, while the entire series will stream on Paramount+. “South Park” was previously available to stream on HBO Max until the series’ deal with the streaming service lapsed in June. The deal followed tense negotiations in which Park County’s lawyers accused Jeff Shell, a former NBCUniversal executive who is set to become Paramount’s president if its merger with Skydance completes, of interfering with Park County’s negotiations with other potential buyers including Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery. Parker and Stone lashed out at Paramount in a statement on X earlier this month after the season 27 premiere was pushed back by two weeks. “This merger is a sh—tshow and it’s f—ing up ‘South Park.’ We are at the studio working on new episodes and we hope the fans get to see them somehow,” the creators said.
The “South Park” episode appeared to knock both Trump and Paramount, who earlier this month reached a settlement following Trump’s lawsuit against the company for allegedly modifying an interview with his former presidential opponent, former Vice President Kamala Harris. The lawsuit was settled as Paramount seeks approval from Trump’s Federal Communications Commission to approve the merger. As part of the $16 million settlement, Trump claimed in a post on Truth Social he will receive “$20 Million Dollars more from the new Owners, in Advertising, PSAs, or similar Programming.” In the “South Park” episode, the concluding satirical Trump advertisement is introduced as “Pro-Trump PSA, 1 of 50.”
The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday Attorney General Pam Bondi previously told Trump at a meeting his name is included among many in files the Justice Department reviewed concerning Jeffrey Epstein. The White House claimed the report is a “fake news story.”
‘South Park’ creators reach $1.5-billion streaming deal with Paramount (Los Angeles Times)