‘South Park’ creators say Paramount merger is “fucking up” the show’s new episodes

The creators of South Park have hit out at Skydance’s merger with Paramount, saying it’s “fucking up” the show’s new episodes.

• READ MORE: The 20 best ‘South Park’ songs

The satirical comedy’s 27th season was meant to premiere on July 9 but has been delayed to July 23 amid a streaming rights battle between creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone and the channel’s parent company, Paramount Global. This has come about as a result of a merger between the company and Skydance, which will close on July 6, though the deadline could be extended.

“In response to the press release from Comedy Central about the change in premiere date for South Park Trey Parker & Matt Stone said — ‘This merger is a shitshow and it’s fucking up South Park. We are at the studio working on new episodes and we hope the fans get to see them somehow,’” a tweet posted to South Park’s official X profile reads.

The conflict over the show’s streaming rights comes as a result of Parker and Stone threatening legal action against Paramount. They accused the company’s incoming president Jeff Shell of interfering in their contract negotiations with Warner Bros. Discovery and Netflix.

Paramount currently has two years left on its $900 million deal for South Park’s digital rights, so the show South Park streams on Paramount+. Parker and Stone believe Shell is willing to meddle with bids from WBD and Netflix to keep the show on its current streamer.

He allegedly asked to modify certain terms of their offers in a “manner calculated to benefit Paramount at the expense” of the creators for example, Shell suggesting WBD give Paramount+ an exclusive 12-month window for new episodes of the show and to shorten the term of the deal from 10 to five years. Consequently, this could worsen bids for the series.

The forthcoming season of South Park, which has been running since 1997, is set to include space-travelling Diddy and US-Canada war storylines.

During a montage of highlights in the clip, we see what appears to be a war between the US and Canada; a nod to the January Potomac River mid-air collision, with Butters seen in the air traffic control tower; and most bizarrely, the show’s main characters flying through space with Diddy, seen using a jetpack.

The post ‘South Park’ creators say Paramount merger is “fucking up” the show’s new episodes appeared first on NME.