The creators of “South Park” aren’t holding back. Nor are Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart.
Just a few weeks after Paramount settled a lawsuit with President Donald Trump, and less than a week after the company made the abrupt decision to cancel “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” some of the company’s marquee names have been using their Paramount platforms to attack their corporate bosses — as well as the president.
In the season premiere of the animated Comedy Central franchise “South Park” on Wednesday night, a character portraying Jesus Christ visited the show’s elementary school before revealing why he was really there: Trump had sent him “because it was part of a lawsuit and the agreement with Paramount.”
“You guys saw what happened to CBS?” the character said. “Well, guess who owns CBS? Paramount! You really want to end up like Colbert? You guys got to stop being stupid. Just shut up, or we’re going to get canceled, you idiots!”
The episode also featured various terrified correspondents at CBS’ “60 Minutes,” whose interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris was at the center of Trump’s suit. The correspondents on “South Park” praised Trump.
Making the episode more remarkable was that it aired just hours after Paramount and Comedy Central announced a new deal with Park County, the production studio run by the creators of “South Park,” Trey Parker and Matt Stone. The deal will pay Park County at least $1.25 billion over five years, two people with knowledge of the arrangement said.
Wednesday’s 22-minute “South Park” episode also included withering criticisms of the president. In one scene, Trump becomes enraged with a painter after checking on the progress of a nude portrait of himself. Later, he is shown in bed with Satan discussing Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced former financier.
Taylor Rogers, a White House assistant press secretary, said in a statement: “This show hasn’t been relevant for over 20 years and is hanging on by a thread with uninspired ideas in a desperate attempt for attention.” She added: “No fourth-rate show can derail President Trump’s hot streak.”
The timing of the criticisms from “South Park,” Colbert and Stewart was also notable because Paramount’s multibillion-dollar merger with the movie studio Skydance still required approval from the Trump administration, which granted it Thursday. In early July, Paramount agreed to pay Trump $16 million to settle his lawsuit against the company.
When Paramount announced the cancellation of “The Late Show” last week, the company said it was “purely a financial decision” given the collapsing economics of late-night television. Colbert’s show lost $40 million last year, two people with knowledge of the finances said.
There have been lingering questions, however, including among several Democratic lawmakers, about whether politics and the looming merger also played a role in the cancellation. Colbert has been an ardent Trump critic for nearly a decade.
Colbert’s final episode is still 10 months away, and he is showing few signs of going away quietly.
On Wednesday night’s episode of “The Late Show,” Colbert referred to Trump’s claim in a social media post that the $16 million settlement with Paramount was worth closer to $36 million. The president said he anticipated that the “new owners” of the company would deliver $20 million in advertising and public service announcements.
“That means by bending the knee they lost like $40 million this year,” Colbert said. “They better watch out, they better watch out — they might get canceled.”
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