Top 10 Times South Park Was Banned
#10: The Gay Leader
Top 10 Times The South Park Creators Backtracked
"South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut" (1999) Back in 1999, “South Park” made its movie debut. After having been bleeped countless times on television, they unleashed a fully uncensored film which ultimately won many accolades, including an Academy Award nomination. Although many fans loved the film and the music accompanying it, one country outright banned it. Iraq did not take too kindly to having their leader depicted as gay, and retaliated by preventing the film from being shown in their country. Ironically, the real Saddam himself would be forced to watch the film while in captivity by the US Marines, according to Matt Stone.
#9: Drugs Are Bad, MMMkay
Top 10 Fictional TV Drugs
"Christmas Snow" They’re a country that gave the world pizza, but apparently, they aren’t as open with their TV as they are with toppings. For a time, “South Park” fans in Italy weren’t able to watch a handful of episodes. For this entry, the one that stands out the most is Season 23’s “Christmas Snow.” It features both Santa Claus and Jesus using and promoting illegal substances. The depiction of heavy drug use in any animated comedy could certainly be taken the wrong way. Apparently, that was enough to pull the plug on this episode, at least for a short period of time.
#8: The Clothing Ban
Top 10 Times South Park Made Fun Of Other Countries
Whether you’re in kindergarten or about to graduate, every student has to deal with the school dress code. It varies from region to region, but they all have a variation of what is considered “appropriate” clothing in an educational environment. In the early days of “South Park,” many schools got up in arms about children wearing t-shirts from the show. Some schools tried banning the clothing outright, but many feared the possible backlash regarding freedom of expression. That didn’t stop one principal who went a step further and sent letters to parents warning them about what their kids were watching after catching them wearing what they considered offensive clothing from the show.
#7: The Pokémon Parody
Top 10 Times South Park Made Fun of Itself
"Chinpokomon" At the height of its popularity, you couldn’t escape hearing or seeing something about Pokémon everywhere. Naturally, “South Park” took advantage of this and lampooned the anime show and its accompanying products. The episode “Chinpokomon” has the boys being brainwashed by the Japanese in an attempt to overthrow the American government. As you can imagine, the real Japan and even Nintendo themselves didn’t take too kindly to the jab. Given the history between the country and the United States, we think it’s understandable why they’d be upset about an episode depicting their country bombing Pearl Harbor again.
#6: When Kids Aren't Funny
Top 10 Times South Park Characters Went Beast Mode
"Cartman Joins NAMBLA" Given the nature of the episode, we’re a little surprised this one wasn’t banned in more places. Tired of his immature friends, Cartman uses the internet to seek out companionship from older men. So when he attracts the attention of the wrong kind of people, things spiral out of control from there. Similar to a previous entry, the country of Italy did not take kindly to an animated program having such a cavalier attitude towards a very serious and dangerous subject matter. However, it does seem they had a change of heart as the ban was lifted a mere six years later.
#5: Catholic Church Worries
Various With all the controversy that has surrounded the Catholic Church, it’s a little ironic to see people become so enraged by a less-than-favorable depiction of the church on “South Park.” Episodes like “Bloody Mary” sent parishioners into an uproar and triggered a massive backlash in the US, Australia, and New Zealand. Plenty of boycotts were threatened but the episode remained on the air in most places. In a rare moment, Trey Parker and Matt Stone did agree with Comedy Central in choosing not to re-air the episode around Christmas time. Not quite a ban, but certainly unconventional for this show.
#4: Costa Rica's Depiction
"Rainforest Shmainforest" If you’re going to write an episode that trashes another country, it’s probably going to stir the pot. Such was the case with this season three opener featuring the voice of Jennifer Aniston. The boys and their class take a trip to Costa Rica to help promote saving the rainforest. Upon arrival, Cartman takes every opportunity to complain about the smell and living conditions. Inspired by a real-life trip by Trey Parker, the episode set off the local government, resulting in a ban. It was later lifted after a re-dub of the episode was made available which had been partially censored.
#3: Questionable Video Game Content
"South Park: The Stick of Truth" (2014) Even in video games, this show manages to find a way to upset the masses. The original version of “South Park: The Stick of Truth” was refused a rating in Australia effectively banning the game from release down under. The game eventually made it to store shelves in both Europe and Australia after replacing the controversial content with an image of a statue facepalming, and text explaining what was meant to be shown. What caused all the stir? A combination of both a mini-game about pregnancy termination and scenes around being… probed. Depictions of Hitler and Nazi images were also censored in the German version.
#2: Chinese Disagreement
"Band in China" With a population of almost 1.5 billion people, China represents a massive market. It’s therefore no surprise that virtually every business out there wants a piece of that pie. Such was the case for both Randy’s weed business, and Stan’s new band Crimson Dawn. Both plots take clear aim at Chinese censorship and the state of living within the country. Given the play on words in the episode’s title, it’s clear the writers knew the episode wouldn’t go over well in China. They were right. Everything related to the show was quickly banned in the country. The creators responded with a fake apology clearly meant to poke the bear one more time.
#1: Handling Of Muhammad
Various Of all the things this show has made fun of, nothing has provoked more censorship than the depiction of Muhammad. Season 10’s “Cartoon Wars” famously used the Muslim prophet to mock “Family Guy.” The episodes featured large black bars over any visual representation of him. Given that the prophet had been shown uncensored years earlier confused both viewers and the show’s producers. The writers famously returned to the controversy in the “200” / “201” episodes which were also censored. All five episodes of the show that feature Muhammad are the only episodes to be excluded from the show’s home on HBO Max.
