{"id":90172,"date":"2025-08-17T19:11:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T19:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/90172\/"},"modified":"2025-08-17T19:11:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T19:11:08","slug":"south-park-and-the-high-price-of-free-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/90172\/","title":{"rendered":"“South Park” and the high price of free speech"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been amply established that \u201cSouth Park<\/a>\u201d creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone<\/a> are maestros of phallic humor. No subject is too lofty for a joke related to male genitalia, even if the punchline amounts to little more than a penis\u2019 presence.<\/p>\n

What makes these moments count isn\u2019t the exposure but who\u2019s getting pantsed. In 2023\u2019s \u201cSouth Park (Not Suitable for Children),\u201d Stan Marsh\u2019s father Randy makes balls-out OnlyFans videos as part of a plot satirizing influencer culture. Rewinding to 2016, its \u201cWieners Out\u201d episode is named for an incel movement that \u201cButters\u201d Stotch launches by Winnie-the-Poohing it at school.<\/p>\n

All this glee misses the real measuring contest that\u2019s going on, which is about who has enough wealth and will to fend off this administration\u2019s efforts to muzzle criticism.<\/p>\n

But it took CBS ousting Stephen Colbert<\/a> and its parent company Paramount\u2019s $16 million payoff to settle Donald Trump\u2019s ludicrous $20 billion lawsuit to inspire what might be Parker and Stone\u2019s equivalent to Michelangelo\u2019s David<\/a>, sans fig leaf<\/a>. \u201cSermon on the \u2018Mount,\u201d the long-awaited 27th season premiere of \u201cSouth Park,\u201d reproaches the religious right\u2019s interference in public education; MAGA voters\u2019 gullibility; Paramount\u2019s cave-in to Trump over its \u201c60 Minutes<\/a>\u201d Kamala Harris interview; and Trump\u2019s unconfirmed claim that the company promised him millions of dollars in public service announcements.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

(Comedy Central) \u201cSouth Park\u201d<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, \u201cSouth Park\u201d ensured that the part nobody will soon forget is the show\u2019s renderings of Trump\u2019s \u201cteeny tiny\u201d manhood.<\/a> The president\u2019s staff wilts in a series of ridiculous portraits hanging on the White House\u2019s walls. It limply dangles between his legs as he slides into the sheets next to a very turned-off Satan, who dumped Saddam Hussein<\/a> only to fall for someone who sounds and acts exactly like him. When Trump shows off supposed evidence of his arousal, the Prince of Darkness rolls his eyes and says, \u201cI can\u2019t even see anything, it\u2019s so small.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saving the pi\u00e8ce de resistance for last, \u201cSermon\u201d closes with a deepfake<\/a> of an obese, pasty Trump collapsing in the desert as his micropeen, festooned with googly eyes, rises to bleat, \u201cI\u2019m Donald J. Trump, and I endorse this message.\u201d<\/p>\n

The White House responded by claiming the show \u201chasn\u2019t been relevant for over 20 years and is hanging on by a thread with uninspired ideas in a desperate attempt for attention.\u201d That was before Comedy Central shared its ratings. The premiere drew nearly 5.9 million viewers on Paramount+ and Comedy Central, and was the No. 1 telecast on cable on July 23. The second episode, which debuted August 6, pulled in 6.2 million viewers on Comedy Central and Paramount+ in its first three days. Now more than ev \u2014 um, recently, \u201cSouth Park\u201d is a can\u2019t-miss show.<\/p>\n

Praise poured forth from entertainment journalists of every stripe, with some highlighting satire\u2019s importance in fighting fascism. The \u201csmall penis rule,\u201d explained in layman\u2019s terms in a 1998 New York Times story<\/a>, floated into conversation again. This questionable strategy suggests that giving a character a small penis might shield creators from being sued by the people they might be based on, since claiming that such a depiction is slanderous requires the would-be plaintiff to confirm that he possesses the world\u2019s smallest trouser dowser.<\/p>\n

All this glee misses the real measuring contest that\u2019s going on, which is about who has enough wealth and will to fend off this administration\u2019s efforts to muzzle criticism.<\/p>\n

Hours before the premiere\u2019s debut, Paramount Global locked down a five-year extension of its overall deal with Parker and Stone\u2019s Park County and South Park Digital Studios, for a reported $1.5 billion,<\/a> according to the Los Angeles Times. The agreement includes 50 new episodes that will be exclusive to Comedy Central and Paramount+ and grants both the right to stream the previous 26 seasons.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

(Comedy Central) \u201cSouth Park\u201d<\/p>\n

As The Wrap<\/a> explains, this follows a 2019 streaming rights deal with WarnerMedia (which became Warner Bros. Discovery) worth a reported $500 million, which, according to Bloomberg<\/a>, expired in June. Then, a $900 million deal in 2021 gave ViacomCBS (Paramount\u2019s former incarnation) 14 specials exclusive to Paramount+ while renewing \u201cSouth Park\u201d for multiple seasons.<\/p>\n

Since Parker and Stone signed a deal in 2007<\/a> securing a 50-50 split with Comedy Central on all digital revenue, they reap half of the money generated by all these streaming deals. Park County and Paramount Global run South Park Digital Studios as a joint venture.<\/p>\n

All to illustrate the point here, which is that the \u201cSouth Park\u201d creators have very deep pockets and a nearly three-decade track record of not respecting any Cartman-esque claims to authori-tah<\/a>. If the notoriously thin-skinned Trump sends his lawyers against them, he may be chagrinned to find that what he\u2019s really threatened this politically agnostic duo<\/a> with (and, vicariously, everyone who can\u2019t stand this president) is a very good time.<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t wrong to celebrate the show\u2019s skewering of a president hellbent on diminishing our First Amendment rights. When Trump is turning the military on blue cities to stifle protest and suing major news organizations over coverage he doesn\u2019t like, watching his \u201cSouth Park\u201d incarnation flapping his shortcoming in the wind confirms theories about his dictatorial behavior.<\/p>\n

Neither cable nor any streaming service falls under the FCC\u2019s purview, which keeps \u201cSouth Park\u201d out of its reach and grants Parker and Stone more latitude than their broadcast peers.<\/p>\n

Instead, we might take note of how high the price of unfettered free speech has become. Trump\u2019s lawsuits against major media outlets, including social media giants Facebook and X, have gained him tens of millions in settlement cash. For ABC\u2019s parent company Disney and CBS\u2019 Paramount Global, forking over $15 million and $16 million, respectively, to make their legal headaches disappear quickly was worth more than defending their journalists\u2019 integrity in court.<\/p>\n

Paramount Global\u2019s recently finalized merger with Skydance Media required approval by the Federal Communications Commission, which is currently headed by Trump appointee Brendan Carr. Trump knew this when he sued CBS. The payout, then, was viewed by many \u2013 including the Writers Guild of America and Colbert \u2013 as the equivalent of \u201ca big fat bribe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neither cable nor any streaming service falls under the FCC\u2019s jurisdiction, which keeps \u201cSouth Park\u201d out of its reach and grants Parker and Stone more latitude than their broadcast peers. In fact, they are among the few media figures who can afford to go toe-to-toe with Trump in court \u2014 and may even relish the opportunity to subject him to a different kind of indecent exposure.<\/p>\n

Another is Rupert Murdoch \u2014\u00a0against whom Trump filed a defamation lawsuit<\/a> along with the Wall Street Journal, which Murdoch owns \u2014and reporters Khadeeja Safdar and Joseph Palazzolo. Safdar and Palazzolo share a byline on the Journal\u2019s July 17 scoop<\/a> alleging that Trump sent a \u201cbawdy\u201d birthday greeting to Jeffrey Epstein that included a drawing of a naked woman, with his signature serving as the woman\u2019s pubic hair.<\/p>\n

Trump insists the letter is a fake<\/a> and probably thought Murdoch would kill the story, claiming as much in a Truth Social post<\/a>. A reasonable interpretation of why he didn\u2019t is that Murdoch saw no reason to prevent reporters from his most legitimate American media outlet from leading the charge on a scandal that has dominated the news cycle for weeks.<\/p>\n

Murdoch\u2019s net worth is estimated by Forbes<\/a> to be somewhere between $23 and $24 billion, which, as we saw with Fox\u2019s $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems<\/a> in 2023, is gigantic enough to belch up a substantial bag without choking on it.\u00a0 While that also means he wouldn\u2019t miss anything in the range of the $10 million X paid to settle with Trump and the $25 million payout that Meta forked over<\/a>, Murdoch is also proud and demonstrably petty<\/a>. If you\u2019re in for that much, why not fork over a few million more to take Trump to court and compel the administration to hand over documentation clarifying the extent of Trump\u2019s ties to Epstein?<\/p>\n

Yes indeed, wealth will buy you plenty of free speech. Murdoch\u2019s cable news propaganda machine<\/a> has proven that for years. As for what a lack of funding costs our democracy, take a look at what\u2019s happening to Trump, Fox News, and Elon Musk\u2019s common adversary, Media Matters for America.<\/p>\n

In May, Trump\u2019s Federal Trade Commission initiated a probe into the progressive research organization to determine whether Media Matters had illegally worked with other groups to negatively impact X\u2019s advertising revenue.<\/p>\n

Media Matters described the FTC action to Status newsletter<\/a> founder Oliver Darcy as a political hit job. A month later, Media Matters filed a civil complaint against the FTC,<\/a> accusing it of launching a \u201cgovernment campaign of retaliation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

(Comedy Central) \u201cSouth Park\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow the Federal Trade Commission seeks to punish Media Matters for its journalism and speech in exposing matters of substantial public concern\u2014including how X.com has enabled and profited from extremist content that proliferated after Elon Musk took over the platform formerly known as Twitter,\u201d the complaint reads. \u201cThe campaign of retribution against Media Matters must stop.\u201d<\/p>\n

This follows a string of lawsuits Musk\u2019s attorneys launched against Media Matters in the wake of a November 2023 report about ads appearing on X next to antisemitic and pro-Nazi content.<\/p>\n

Advertisers fled shortly thereafter, although Musk\u2019s endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory<\/a> that same month didn\u2019t help his case. Neither did it stop him from waging lawfare<\/a> against the organization, including encouraging investigations into Media Matters by the Republican attorneys general of Texas and Missouri. A Federal Court blocked the Texas investigation, citing First Amendment rights infringement. The Missouri attorney general\u2019s office dropped its investigation.<\/p>\n

A July 25 New York Times article<\/a> enumerates these details. It also says that defending against Musk\u2019s lawsuits as well as investigations by those states\u2019 attorneys general and the FTC have saddled Media Matters with $15 million in legal fees.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, to place that burden in context, Parker and Stone spent $40 million<\/a> to renovate Casa Bonita, a kitschy Mexican restaurant in the Denver area, because they could.<\/p>\n

Start your day with essential news from Salon.
Sign up for our free morning newsletter<\/a>, Crash Course.<\/p>\n

None of this means Trump won\u2019t try Paramount\u2019s new owner David Ellison<\/a>\u2019s tolerance for frivolous lawsuits or, more to the point, what he may try to stop Parker and Stone from saying or doing on Comedy Central and Paramount+ in the future.<\/p>\n

But the reality is that Paramount+ needs \u201cSouth Park\u201d more than Parker and Stone need Paramount+, and Ellison knows it. \u201cSouth Park\u201d generates a lot of revenue and is one of the most attractive assets that Paramount+ has in its library.<\/p>\n

In an August 7 press appearance, Ellison had nothing but praise for \u201cSouth Park,\u201d telling CNN<\/a>, \u201cMatt and Trey are incredibly talented. They are equal opportunity offenders and always have been.\u201d Ellison then claimed he hadn\u2019t yet seen the second episode of the new season, which ups the Trump mockery by showing Vice President JD Vance asking his boss if he should lube up his hellish paramour.<\/p>\n

The reality is that Paramount+ needs \u201cSouth Park\u201d more than Parker and Stone need Paramount+, and Ellison knows it.<\/p>\n

Although it\u2019s too early to tell whether Diminutive Don will be a frequent Season 27 guest star, Trump\u2019s \u201cteeny tiny\u201d also shows up in that episode, which is titled \u2014 snort \u2014 \u201cGot a Nut.\u201d\u00a0 However, the president\u2019s teacup hog takes second billing to the show\u2019s depiction of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem\u2019s Mar-A-Lago face<\/a>, seen\u00a0constantly trying to escape her skull. The \u201cSouth Park\u201d version of Noem also shoots dogs as a hobby, including one all-American superhero\u2019s best friend.<\/p>\n

Noem\u2019s response to this parody was to call Parker and Stone \u201clazy\u201d for \u201c[making] fun of women for how they look. Only the liberals and the extremists do that,\u201d she said. \u201cSouth Park\u201d\u2019s official X account reacted by posting the episode\u2019s Paramount+ exclusive ending credits scene, wherein its animated Noem is seen entering a pet store, followed by the sound of gunfire and canine yelps.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s she going to do, sue? Millions would love to see her try.<\/p>\n

Didn\u2019t see this on TV? <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the Paramount+ version of the end credits scene. pic.twitter.com\/QAvMgQfU9t<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 South Park (@SouthPark) August 11, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

A new episode of \u201cSouth Park\u201d premieres at 10 p.m. Wednesday, August 20 on Comedy Central and streams the next day on Paramount+.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/p>\n

about this topic<\/p>\n