Oh my God, they riled Donny! The 15 biggest South Park scandals … ranked | South Park

It has been hailed as a very powerful TV present of the second Trump presidency. It’s at present within the type of its life and clocking up file rankings. Not dangerous for a cartoon about 4 potty-mouthed Colorado schoolboys.NSFW sitcom South Park may need been been on air since 1997, but it surely has by no means been extra related. In an period when satirical talkshows are being axed, Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s creation fulfils a significant operate because it mercilessly mocks each side of the political spectrum. Written and made the week of transmission, it has been capable of incorporate topical tales and maintain energy to account. No marvel dad or mum firm Paramount lately received a $1.5bn bidding battle for a five-year, 50-episode deal.South Park’s no-holds-barred method to hot-button points has made it probably the most controversial American comedy of all time, animated or not. Right here’s our potted historical past of its scandals, rated so as of explosiveness.15. Meghan and Harry’s privateness pleas (2023)The Worldwide Privateness Tour, 2023. {Photograph}: Comedy CentralRoyal feathers have been ruffled by this slice of Sussex baiting. The Prince of Canada and his spouse embark on a “Worldwide Privateness Tour”. When their personal jet lands in South Park, they wave “Cease taking a look at us!” placards. The prince plugs his tell-all memoir, titled Waaagh, with monarchy-bashing interviews. Described within the episode as “sorority woman, actress, influencer, sufferer”, Meghan Markle was reportedly “upset and overwhelmed”. Rumours swirled that the pair have been planning authorized motion. A spokesperson dismissed this as “baseless, boring nonsense”. Bit impolite.14. Steve Irwin’s fishy destiny (2006)When Devil throws a Halloween get together in Hollywood, Australian naturalist Steve Irwin is among the many movie star friends. The croc-hunting cult hero was depicted with a stingray barb by means of his chest, having died in that method simply two months earlier than broadcast. Followers slated it as “grossly insensitive timing”. Irwin’s widow Terri stated she was “devastated by Steve being mocked in such a merciless approach”, worrying that their youngsters may in the future see it.13. The ‘kick a ginger’ craze (2005)Ginger Children, 2005. {Photograph}: Comedy CentralHitler allegory Ginger Children sees Cartman wage battle on red-haired folks. When Kyle methods him into pondering he’s caught “gingervitis”, Cartman switches sides and rallies them to stand up as a grasp race. Cue real-life controversy when the storyline impressed the notorious “Nationwide Kick a Ginger Day” meme. Precise violent assaults included one handled as a hate crime in Canada and bullying at a Rotherham college. Copper-topped troubadour Ed Sheeran joked that the episode “ruined my life”.12. Isaac Hayes’s resurrection (2006)Isaac Hayes in The Return of Chef, 2006. {Photograph}: Comedy CentralSoul legend Isaac Hayes voiced Chef for almost a decade, serving up home-spun knowledge and crooning about chocolate salty balls. Following the Trapped within the Closet episode (extra of which shortly), the Scientologist singer resigned in protest. In retaliation, the subsequent season sees Chef return to South Park after travelling the world with the cult-like “Tremendous Journey Membership”, which brainwashes members into youngster abuse. Chef’s dialogue was spliced from previous episodes, therefore the uneasy spectacle of Hayes singing about “making love” to the children, earlier than soiling himself. Poignantly, Hayes’s son later claimed that his entourage made the choice to stop on Hayes’s behalf, with the person himself unable to talk after a stroke.11. Holy inappropriate (2005)Faith is without doubt one of the present’s common targets, and the Bloody Mary episode was significantly inflammatory. When a statue of the Virgin Mary begins “bleeding out its ass”, the pope dispatches a cardinal to determine if it qualifies as a miracle. Catholic marketing campaign teams within the US, New Zealand and Australia declared it “disgusting”, demanded apologies and unsuccessfully lobbied for it by no means to be rerun.10. King of pop dethroned (2004)Michael Jackson in The Jeffersons, 2004. {Photograph}: Comedy CentralFive years earlier than his demise, Michael Jackson acquired the South Park remedy. When eccentric millionaire Mr Jefferson strikes into an area mansion with a funfair within the backyard, the children examine whether or not he’s a baby abuser or the sufferer of society’s prejudice in opposition to wealthy Black males. When caught sleeping in Stan’s mattress, Jefferson pays off his mother and father to maintain quiet. He attire as Peter Pan, dangles his son over a balcony and at one level his surgery-addled face falls off. Refined.9. Nice 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 final straw. It took intention at Hollywood’s growth into the profitable Chinese language market, regardless of the nation’s strict censorship and repressive political regime. Mickey Mouse’s presence made it clear that Disney was one goal. In response, the Chinese language authorities banned the present completely – scrubbing it from streaming and social media platforms – which solely proved Parker and Stone’s level. The unrepentant pair issued a sarcastic apology, evaluating President Xi Jinping to Winnie the Pooh and saying: “We too love cash greater than freedom and democracy … We good now, China?”8. Inexperienced across the gills (2006)Al Gore will get an apology within the episode Time to Get Cereal, 2018. {Photograph}: Comedy CentralSouth Park has repeatedly mocked the idea of local weather change. Its denialism peaked with ManBearPig, during which Al Gore lectures youngsters a couple of mysterious new environmental risk: a cryptid described as “half man, half bear, half pig”. The present was slammed as “irresponsible” for equating eco-warnings with scares about legendary monsters. Twelve years later, it reverse-ferreted by having the boys realise that ManBearPig really did exist and grudgingly apologise to Gore. “Time to get cereal”, certainly.7. Bathroom humour (2001)The fifth season opened with the profanity-packed It Hits the Fan. When a personality says “shit” on a TV cop drama referred to as, properly, Cop Drama, it normalises the swearword. This brings on a plague that makes residents vomit up their intestines, whereas awakening the traditional Knights of Requirements and Practices. The episode parodied CBS medical cleaning soap Chicago Hope, which broke floor two years earlier than by having actor Mark Harmon say “shit” for the primary time on community TV. South Park went approach additional, dropping the s-bomb 162 occasions, averaging as soon as each eight seconds – handily totted up by an onscreen counter. Comedy Central obtained 5,000 complaints.6. When you tolerate this … (2002)The Loss of life Camp of Tolerance, 2002. {Photograph}: Comedy CentralMany fee The Loss of life Camp of Tolerance as one of many all-time nice episodes. In a sometimes outrageous storyline, instructor Mr Garrison tries to get himself sacked for being homosexual so he can launch a $25m anti-discrimination lawsuit. When he inserts Lemmiwinks the category gerbil someplace intimate, pupils protest. Paranoid they’re homophobic, mother and father ship them to Tolerance Camp, the place Nazi-esque guards power them to attract footage of “folks of all colors and creeds holding palms beneath a rainbow”. Lemmiwinks’s journey by means of Mr Slave’s rectum grew to become a Hobbit spoof. You shall not cross.5. Slur causes a stir (2007)Impressed by Seinfeld star Michael “Kramer” Richards’s offensive outburst the earlier yr, With Apologies to Jesse Jackson satirises each racism and meaningless mea culpas which fail to deal with the underlying points. When Stan’s father Randy makes use of the N-word on Wheel of Fortune, a nationwide scandal erupts. Searching for forgiveness, Randy kisses the bottom of Rev Jesse Jackson, AKA “the Emperor of Black Folks”. The uncensored epithet is uttered 42 occasions. Black communities and civil rights organisations praised this nuanced tackle hate speech.4. Too merciless for college (2018)Season 22 begins with gunfire ringing out at South Park Elementary. But the workers and college students calmly keep on as if college massacres are an on a regular basis occasion – as a result of within the US they’re. As metallic detectors are put in and corridor screens armed with rifles, authorities nonetheless fail to deal with the foundation trigger. It aired quickly after comparable shootings in Parkland and Santa Fe claimed 27 lives. As a takedown of desensitisation to gun violence, the daringly darkish Lifeless Children was incendiary stuff.3. In mattress with Devil (2025)Sermon on the Mount, 2025. {Photograph}: Comedy CentralThis summer time’s season premiere got here out swinging with Sermon on the Mount, satirising Trump’s assaults on free speech by having the president sue the whole city of South Park. Biting the hand that feeds, it additionally lampooned Paramount’s capitulation to him. He’s painted as a predatory tyrant, overcompensating for his micropenis. He hops into mattress with Devil, who lambasts Trump concerning the Epstein recordsdata. It sparked a Maga-hatted backlash, whereas the livid White Home stated the present “hadn’t been related for 20 years”. It doubled down every week later with savage anti-deportation episode Acquired a Nut, telling conservative critics to “#eatabagofdicks”.2. Hubbard within the cabinet (2005) Trapped within the Closet, 2005. {Photograph}: Comedy CentralSouth Park’s most infamous instalment, Trapped within the Closet, makes use of the ludicrous R Kelly opus to take intention at A-list Thetans Tom Cruise and John Travolta. Scientology is skewered as “an enormous fats world rip-off”, and it animates in unsparing element the alien lore on the coronary heart of L Ron Hubbard’s faith – accompanied by the onscreen caption “THIS IS WHAT SCIENTOLOGISTS ACTUALLY BELIEVE”. As a result of the church is so litigious, everybody who labored on the episode is credited as John or Jane Smith. Conspiracy theories abounded that transmission was delayed at Cruise’s behest to keep away from overshadowing Mission: Not possible III (additionally produced by South Park’s dad or mum firm Paramount). What’s past dispute is that Parker and Stone threatened to stop if it wasn’t aired. Hail Xenu!1. Prophet and loss (2006)The episode 200, 2010. {Photograph}: Comedy CentralPotshots at Mormonism and Catholicism triggered a kerfuffle however have been a storm in a teacup in comparison with Cartoon Wars. With Islamist extremists more and more angered by satirical depictions of the prophet Muhammad, South Park weighed in. When residents hear that rival sequence Household Man is breaking the taboo, they actually buried their heads within the sand to keep away from seeing it. The boys embark on a mission to get the episode pulled – Kyle as a result of he fears terrorist reprisals, Cartman as a result of he simply hates Household Man. Paramount censored the scenes anyway, overlaying them with a black title card, citing issues for public security. Parker and Stone condemned the transfer as hypocritical. After they revisited the subject in 2010, mentions of Muhammad have been bleeped out, as was Kyle’s closing speech concerning the perils of giving in to violent threats. A radical Muslim blogger nonetheless wrote that he prayed for Allah to kill the present’s creators and “burn them in Hell for all eternity”. The Simpsons’ subsequent chalkboard gag noticed Bart write: “South Park, We’d Stand Beside You If We Weren’t So Scared”. The episodes stay banned on streaming companies to today.South Park streams on Paramount+ on Wednesdays within the US and Thursdays within the UK.