It has been hailed as the most important TV show of the second Trump presidency. It’s currently in the form of its life and clocking up record ratings. Not bad for a cartoon about four potty-mouthed Colorado schoolboys.
NSFW sitcom South Park might have been been on air since 1997, but it has never been more relevant. In an era when satirical talkshows are being axed, Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s creation fulfils a vital function as it mercilessly mocks both sides of the political spectrum. Written and made the week of transmission, it has been able to incorporate topical stories and hold power to account. No wonder parent company Paramount recently won a $1.5bn bidding war for a five-year, 50-episode deal.
South Park’s no-holds-barred approach to hot-button issues has made it the most controversial American comedy of all time, animated or not. Here’s our potted history of its scandals, rated in order of explosiveness.
15. Meghan and Harry’s privacy pleas (2023)
Royal feathers were ruffled by this slice of Sussex baiting. The Prince of Canada and his wife embark on a “Worldwide Privacy Tour”. When their private jet lands in South Park, they wave “Stop looking at us!” placards. The prince plugs his tell-all memoir, titled Waaagh, with monarchy-bashing interviews. Described in the episode as “sorority girl, actress, influencer, victim”, Meghan Markle was reportedly “upset and overwhelmed”. Rumours swirled that the pair were planning legal action. A spokesperson dismissed this as “baseless, boring nonsense”. Bit rude.
14. Steve Irwin’s fishy fate (2006)
When Satan throws a Halloween party in Hollywood, Australian naturalist Steve Irwin is among the celebrity guests. The croc-hunting cult hero was depicted with a stingray barb through his chest, having died in that manner just two months before broadcast. Fans slated it as “grossly insensitive timing”. Irwin’s widow Terri said she was “devastated by Steve being mocked in such a cruel way”, worrying that their children could one day see it.
13. The ‘kick a ginger’ craze (2005)
Hitler allegory Ginger Kids sees Cartman wage war on red-haired people. When Kyle tricks him into thinking he’s caught “gingervitis”, Cartman switches sides and rallies them to rise up as a master race. Cue real-life controversy when the storyline inspired the infamous “National Kick a Ginger Day” meme. Actual violent attacks included one treated as a hate crime in Canada and bullying at a Rotherham school. Copper-topped troubadour Ed Sheeran joked that the episode “ruined my life”.
12. Isaac Hayes’s resurrection (2006)
Soul legend Isaac Hayes voiced Chef for nearly a decade, serving up home-spun wisdom and crooning about chocolate salty balls. Following the Trapped in the Closet episode (more of which shortly), the Scientologist singer resigned in protest. In retaliation, the next season sees Chef return to South Park after travelling the world with the cult-like “Super Adventure Club”, which brainwashes members into child abuse. Chef’s dialogue was spliced from old episodes, hence the uneasy spectacle of Hayes singing about “making love” to the kids, before soiling himself. Poignantly, Hayes’s son later claimed that his entourage made the decision to quit on Hayes’s behalf, with the man himself unable to speak after a stroke.
11. Holy inappropriate (2005)
Religion is one of the show’s regular targets, and the Bloody Mary episode was particularly inflammatory. When a statue of the Virgin Mary begins “bleeding out its ass”, the pope dispatches a cardinal to decide if it qualifies as a miracle. Catholic campaign groups in the US, New Zealand and Australia declared it “disgusting”, demanded apologies and unsuccessfully lobbied for it never to be rerun.
10. King of pop dethroned (2004)
Five years before his death, Michael Jackson got the South Park treatment. When eccentric millionaire Mr Jefferson moves into a local mansion with a funfair in the garden, the kids investigate whether he is a child abuser or the victim of society’s prejudice against rich Black men. When caught sleeping in Stan’s bed, Jefferson pays off his parents to keep quiet. He dresses as Peter Pan, dangles his son over a balcony and at one point his surgery-addled face falls off. Subtle.
9. Great brawl of China (2019)
Having already rattled China’s cage with its depiction of the Dalai Lama and deliberate deployment of Asian stereotypes, the episode named Band in China proved the last straw. It took aim at Hollywood’s expansion into the lucrative Chinese market, despite the country’s strict censorship and repressive political regime. Mickey Mouse’s presence made it clear that Disney was one target. In response, the Chinese government banned the show entirely – scrubbing it from streaming and social media platforms – which only proved Parker and Stone’s point. The unrepentant pair issued a sarcastic apology, comparing President Xi Jinping to Winnie the Pooh and saying: “We too love money more than freedom and democracy … We good now, China?”
8. Green around the gills (2006)
South Park has repeatedly mocked the concept of climate change. Its denialism peaked with ManBearPig, in which Al Gore lectures children about a mysterious new environmental threat: a cryptid described as “half man, half bear, half pig”. The show was slammed as “irresponsible” for equating eco-warnings with scares about mythical monsters. Twelve years later, it reverse-ferreted by having the boys realise that ManBearPig actually did exist and grudgingly apologise to Gore. “Time to get cereal”, indeed.
7. Toilet humour (2001)
The fifth season opened with the profanity-packed It Hits the Fan. When a character says “shit” on a TV cop drama called, well, Cop Drama, it normalises the swearword. This brings on a plague that makes citizens vomit up their intestines, while awakening the ancient Knights of Standards and Practices. The episode parodied CBS medical soap Chicago Hope, which broke ground two years before by having actor Mark Harmon say “shit” for the first time on network TV. South Park went way further, dropping the s-bomb 162 times, averaging once every eight seconds – handily totted up by an onscreen counter. Comedy Central received 5,000 complaints.
6. If you tolerate this … (2002)
Many rate The Death Camp of Tolerance as one of the all-time great episodes. In a typically outrageous storyline, teacher Mr Garrison tries to get himself sacked for being gay so he can launch a $25m anti-discrimination lawsuit. When he inserts Lemmiwinks the class gerbil somewhere intimate, pupils protest. Paranoid they are homophobic, parents send them to Tolerance Camp, where Nazi-esque guards force them to draw pictures of “people of all colours and creeds holding hands beneath a rainbow”. Lemmiwinks’s journey through Mr Slave’s rectum became a Hobbit spoof. You shall not pass.
5. Slur causes a stir (2007)
Inspired by Seinfeld star Michael “Kramer” Richards’s offensive outburst the previous year, With Apologies to Jesse Jackson satirises both racism and meaningless mea culpas which fail to address the underlying issues. When Stan’s father Randy uses the N-word on Wheel of Fortune, a national scandal erupts. Seeking forgiveness, Randy kisses the backside of Rev Jesse Jackson, AKA “the Emperor of Black People”. The uncensored epithet is uttered 42 times. Black communities and civil rights organisations praised this nuanced take on hate speech.
4. Too cruel for school (2018)
Season 22 begins with gunfire ringing out at South Park Elementary. Yet the staff and students calmly carry on as if school massacres are an everyday event – because in the US they are. As metal detectors are installed and hall monitors armed with rifles, authorities still fail to address the root cause. It aired soon after similar shootings in Parkland and Santa Fe claimed 27 lives. As a takedown of desensitisation to gun violence, the daringly dark Dead Kids was incendiary stuff.
3. In bed with Satan (2025)
This summer’s season premiere came out swinging with Sermon on the Mount, satirising Trump’s attacks on free speech by having the president sue the entire town of South Park. Biting the hand that feeds, it also lampooned Paramount’s capitulation to him. He is painted as a predatory tyrant, overcompensating for his micropenis. He hops into bed with Satan, who lambasts Trump about the Epstein files. It sparked a Maga-hatted backlash, while the furious White House said the show “hadn’t been relevant for 20 years”. It doubled down a week later with savage anti-deportation episode Got a Nut, telling conservative critics to “#eatabagofdicks”.
2. Hubbard in the cupboard (2005)
South Park’s most notorious instalment, Trapped in the Closet, uses the ludicrous R Kelly opus to take aim at A-list Thetans Tom Cruise and John Travolta. Scientology is skewered as “a big fat global scam”, and it animates in unsparing detail the alien lore at the heart of L Ron Hubbard’s religion – accompanied by the onscreen caption “THIS IS WHAT SCIENTOLOGISTS ACTUALLY BELIEVE”. Because the church is so litigious, everyone who worked on the episode is credited as John or Jane Smith. Conspiracy theories abounded that transmission was delayed at Cruise’s behest to avoid overshadowing Mission: Impossible III (also produced by South Park’s parent company Paramount). What’s beyond dispute is that Parker and Stone threatened to quit if it wasn’t aired. Hail Xenu!
1. Prophet and loss (2006)
Potshots at Mormonism and Catholicism caused a kerfuffle but were a storm in a teacup compared to Cartoon Wars. With Islamist extremists increasingly angered by satirical depictions of the prophet Muhammad, South Park weighed in. When citizens hear that rival series Family Guy is breaking the taboo, they literally buried their heads in the sand to avoid seeing it. The boys embark on a mission to get the episode pulled – Kyle because he fears terrorist reprisals, Cartman because he just hates Family Guy. Paramount censored the scenes anyway, covering them with a black title card, citing concerns for public safety. Parker and Stone condemned the move as hypocritical. When they revisited the topic in 2010, mentions of Muhammad were bleeped out, as was Kyle’s closing speech about the perils of giving in to violent threats. A radical Muslim blogger still wrote that he prayed for Allah to kill the show’s creators and “burn them in Hell for all eternity”. The Simpsons’ next chalkboard gag saw Bart write: “South Park, We’d Stand Beside You If We Weren’t So Scared”. The episodes remain banned on streaming services to this day.
South Park streams on Paramount+ on Wednesdays in the US and Thursdays in the UK.
