Top 30 Biggest South Park Controversies

Top 30 South Park Controversies

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the episodes and storylines in the small mountain town of “South Park” that perhaps got more attention from viewers and critics than the writers would have liked.

#30: Columbus & Native Americans

Leave it to Randy Marsh to find a way to both evoke laughter and controversy. Season 21’s “Holiday Special” found Randy successfully campaigning to have Columbus Day canceled due to its association with the suffering of indigenous Americans. The irony, of course, is that Randy was - until recently - a die-hard fan of Christopher Columbus - something he was trying to overcompensate for. It… doesn’t exactly work. Without the context of the real world, the episode itself can be seen as quite entertaining. But with that context, some viewers and reviewers questioned its message, and ultimately the episode’s mixed reception seemed to be split based on how you already felt about the real-life issues it covered.

#29: Copyright Infringement

Here was an episode that satirized the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike. Not only did we get the best explanation of the strike of the time; we also got to witness some legendary YouTube viral videos get the “South Park” treatment. It was the latter of these that resulted in an attempted lawsuit against Comedy Central. American singer Samwell tried to claim copyright infringement over the episode’s satirical version of his most notable song. It was a small blip on the radar in comparison to others on this list, but still noteworthy. The case was dismissed, with the judge even claiming the show’s parody likely amplified Samwell’s original song.

#28: Muhammad, Take One

Trey Parker and Matt Stone have always made it clear that no one is above being mocked on their show. So in 2006 when they wanted to poke fun at “Family Guy”, they chose to use the religious figure of Muhammad as their ammunition. This infamous two-part episode speaks to the very nature of how they perceive comedy. But since depictions of Muhammad are considered blasphemous among Muslims, to show him in their episode, regardless of context, was going to be a problem for Comedy Central. The network opted to black out the scene, drawing a line in the sand the writers were not to cross. The episode remains censored to this day.

#27: Garrison’s Gender Identity

In the time since this episode aired in 2005, the opinions around gender-affirming surgery and gender identity have shifted dramatically. Would the episode include a storyline about Kyle’s father wanting to become a dolphin if the episode were produced today? It’s hard to say. But the real controversy here wasn’t about Gerald’s obsession with a certain marine mammal. It wasn’t even about Garrison’s choice to undergo the surgery. The part that got folks so worked up was how during Garrison’s operation, the episode showed real-life footage of an actual gender confirmation surgery. The surprising footage caught viewers off guard and left many wondering if such graphic imagery was really needed. Even Matt and Trey questioned the choice in their season 9 mini-commentary on the episode.

#26: Not Marlon Brando

In this season four episode, Cartman is looking for more mature companions and turns to an internet chat room filled with older men who are more than willing to become his “friend”. What follows is a series of encounters that highlight both Eric’s innocence and the predatory behavior of these seasoned individuals. The main plot in this episode is shocking enough without even mentioning Kenny’s behavior over his mother’s pregnancy. The result? Certain scenes were briefly edited out for syndication in the U.S.; the episode was not syndicated in Italy until three years after the rest of the season originally aired there, and it was banned in the UK by satellite channel Sky One.

#25: Lemmiwinks Debut

The creators of “South Park” have often said they don’t approach the writing of an episode specifically with the intent of trying to anger someone. But there are times when you have to wonder if even that has to be taken with a grain of salt. “The Death Camp of Tolerance” is a season six episode where Garrison is trying to get fired for being gay in order to sue for millions of dollars in damages. This translates into scenes that feature some of the most outlandish sexual references ever seen on the show. Even so - or perhaps because of this - according to an article by the Daily Telegraph, “some fans still regard [it] as the greatest episode.”

#24: Stem Cell Research

Ever heard the phrase “punch up, not down” when it comes to comedy? That basically means comedians should mock those in power, not those with less agency. As mentioned, the makers of “South Park” consider themselves equal opportunity offenders, and thus don’t abide by such guidelines. Case in point: when they’ve taken aim at people with disabilities. There was the season two episode where two people with disabilities engaged in a physical confrontation. Then there was their depiction of Superman actor Christopher Reeve. During his life, Reeve was a staunch advocate for human embryonic stem cell research as a possible means of treating his paralysis. In “South Park,” he was a villain who made highly questionable dietary decisions, all in the name of stem cell research.

#23: South Park vs the NCAA

During the documentary “6 Days to Air”, Matt Stone brings up a topic about how the NCAA players were not being compensated for their efforts as part of a collegiate team. This eventually became a “South Park” episode that focused on Cartman’s own athletic talent organization that also didn’t pay its participants. We’re not sure what was more controversial this time around. The depiction of the contestants alone was far more disturbing than what you’d want to see on television. Yet, it went a step further by drawing a comparison to modern-day slavery.

#22: Harry & Meghan

You can call them the Prince of Canada and his wife all you want. Everyone knew exactly who the show was poking fun at. For 22 minutes, “South Park” took everything the public had seen and heard about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and turned it upside down. The two are shown incessantly complaining about the lack of privacy in their life, while simultaneously doing anything and everything they can to draw attention to themselves. After the airing, reports surfaced of a very distraught Duchess of Sussex who was quite insulted at her depiction, spawning rumors of legal action being taken against the show. Only time will tell if “South Park” takes another shot at the royals.

#21: School Restrictions

It’s easy for parents to associate “cartoons” with “kids’ TV,” but that reflexive connection has caused some schoolteachers great alarm. Even recently, education establishments have gone as far as to ban clothing featuring “South Park” and its characters, worrying about the influence that the show’s adult material will have over students. Attendees have been asked to turn shirts inside out, especially prints that displayed some of Cartmen’s famous vulgarity. Wardrobe depictions of other shows, like “Family Guy” and “The Simpsons” have also fallen victim to this, but Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s cultural phenomenon has been high on the chopping block. While there has been pushback regarding issues of free speech, the presence of material related to “South Park” has certainly ruffled some perturbed feathers.

#20: Kick a Ginger Day

In 2005, “South Park” aired an episode called “Ginger Kids” about discrimination against people with red hair. When Cartman is tricked into thinking he’s become a redhead himself, he leads an uprising. The episode has been blamed for the creation of “Kick a Ginger Day” in 2008, which led to schoolyard violence in several countries. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police even investigated one incident as a hate crime. Ed Sheeran criticized the episode, saying it “ruined his life” by popularizing discriminatory attitudes against redheads in the United States.

#19: Indiana Jones

In the spring of 2008, “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” was released to poor fan reception. Trey Parker and Matt Stone took to “South Park” to express that disappointment … in the most vulgar manner possible. Visualizing the idea that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg violated the character, the episode contains graphic, detailed scenes of the filmmakers assaulting everyone’s favorite archeologist. The scenes parody the likes of “Boys Don’t Cry” and “Deliverance”, but some viewers felt pretty sickened. Naturally, the episode generated considerable controversy, with both detractors and defenders.

#18: Attempted Ban in Russia

Back in 2008, Moscow prosecutors attempted to ban “South Park” in response to complaints that it insults religious believers. The Russian Union of Christians of Evangelical Faith singled out the episode “Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics” as particularly offensive. In Russia, “South Park” is distributed on the cartoon network 2x2, alongside “The Simpsons” and “Family Guy”. Prosecutors attempted to revoke the network’s license, claiming that these shows “propagandize violence, cruelty, pornography and anti-social behavior”. Ironically, they hoped to replace the cartoons with actual propaganda that would teach children about patriotism instead.

#17: J.Lo parody

“South Park” is certainly no stranger to making fun of celebrities. It’s part of the show’s bread and butter, and Hollywood has just gotten used to it over the years. However, some celebrities take it in stride more than others. Back in 2003, “South Park” aired an episode called “Fat Butt and Pancake Head” which poked fun at Jennifer Lopez. According to Trey Parker, some people on Lopez’s movie sets began referencing the “South Park” episode, and it irritated the actress so much that she fired them. Parker later saw Lopez at a party, and she reportedly pushed past him without saying a word.

#16: Mexican Flag

The episode “Pinewood Derby” spoofs numerous world leaders, including Felipe Calderón, Mexico’s 63rd President. Just a few hours before it was set to air on MTV Latin America, the network decided not to broadcast it. According to them, the producers did not get permission to broadcast the Mexican flag on television, which supposedly went against regulation. However, this explanation was met with widespread skepticism. In reality, the episode was likely pulled because it negatively depicted the country’s President and would have ruffled feathers at the Ministry of the Interior. It was later broadcast a few months later, with permission from the Ministry.

#15: Oscar Performance

When “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut” was nominated for the Best Original Song at the 72nd Academy Awards, ABC had a problem on their hands. The song “Blame Canada” includes profanity, so ABC requested that the lyrics be altered to comply with the network’s standards and practices. Songwriters Trey Parker and Marc Shaiman declined, but fortunately the performers found a clever compromise. When the lyrics called for profanity, Robin Williams turned his back and the other performers gasped. The missing word was obvious, and no one had dropped an f-bomb at the Oscars.

#14: “South Park: The Stick of Truth”

Even in video game form, “South Park” can’t help but stir up controversy. The RPG “South Park: The Stick of Truth” was published by Ubisoft, who voluntarily censored the game in the European market without direction from the ratings board. Ubisoft removed scenes depicting an anal probe and an abortion, as well as Nazi imagery, which is illegal in Germany. In place of the missing scenes, there was a mocking title card that explained them in graphic detail. Parker and Stone were reportedly unhappy that content had been cut and made the title cards to push back against censorship.

#13: Garrison on Refugees

In November of 2015, Paris suffered horrific attacks, for which ISIS claimed responsibility. The revelation that some of the attackers had entered Europe from Syria contributed to a surge in anti-refugee rhetoric. Just a few days after the attacks, the “South Park” episode “Sponsored Content” had Garrison label Syrian refugees terrorists and call for violence against them. As a result, this scene was removed when the episode aired on Comedy Central in the Netherlands. However, the full and uncensored episode was made available on the official “South Park” website.

#12: Climate Change Denialism

In 2006, “South Park” aired a particularly controversial episode called “ManBearPig”. It features Al Gore warning about a monster called ManBearPig, who serves as a metaphor for climate change. The episode was released around the time of Gore’s famous documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” Parker and Stone were skeptical about. The episode is dismissive of climate change and the science behind it. 12 years later, Parker and Stone acknowledged their mistake in the episode “Time to Get Cereal” by making ManBearPig very much real.

#11: Copycat Prevention

If any episode of “South Park” makes the news or gets banned, odds are the controversy is more likely about someone being offended by the show’s humor. But for an early season one episode, a scene featuring Shelley setting Stan on fire was self-censored in future airings and releases by the show’s network. The reasoning behind cutting the scene seemed to be related to recurring jokes about fire in episodes of “Beavis and Butt-Head”. These were thought to have inspired a a real-life person to burn down his home, resulting in the death of a family member. Concerned someone might mimic Shelley’s actions herself, Comedy Central decided to play it safe and permanently alter the episode.

#10: Chinese Censorship

On October 2, 2019, “South Park” aired Band in China, an episode that viciously satirized Chinese censorship and the ways in which the entertainment industry bends to their demands. American audiences loved it, as it wonderfully critiqued both the Chinese censorship laws and the compromised state of American entertainment. Chinese audiences, not so much. China essentially scrubbed “South Park” from existence, removing every episode from its streaming services, every clip from the internet, and every fan site or social media page dedicated to discussing the series. In true “South Park” fashion, Parker and Stone issued a faux-apology, writing, “Like the NBA, we welcome the Chinese censors into our homes and into our hearts. We too love money more than freedom and democracy.”

#9: Excessive Use of Profanity

If you think “South Park” is controversial now, you should have seen it in the early 2000s. You couldn’t go ten minutes without someone calling it the bane of Western civilization. Back then, people were incensed that the show contained profanity. But it wasn’t just “South Park” - the show “Chicago Hope” also generated significant media attention around a character uttering the phrase “shit happens.” To combat this, South Park co-creator Trey Parker wrote It Hits the Fan, an episode where the same swear word from that phrase is said and written a total of 200 times. This equates to the word being said or written every eight seconds. Surprisingly, the episode itself didn’t stir up much controversy...aside from the 5,000 odd emails that were sent to Comedy Central.

#8: Portrayal of Mormonism

The season seven episode All About Mormons concerns a Mormon family moving into South Park and swaying the Marshes with their religion. The episode obviously touches on a lot of important facets relating to Mormonism, including the Book of Mormon, Family Home Evening, the story of founder Joseph Smith, and the golden plates. Parker concedes that he found the episode difficult to write, as most of the Mormons he knew were friendly and good-natured people. The LDS Church stated that although the episode did not hamper their growth, they did admit that “individual Church members...felt uncomfortable” over the “gross portrayal of Church history.”

#7: The Steve Irwin Cameo

On September 4, 2006, Steve Irwin tragically died after a stingray attack. On October 25, just seven weeks after the tragedy, Irwin appeared in the episode Hell on Earth 2006. In the episode, Irwin can be seen at Satan’s party with a stingray protruding from a bloody chest wound. This spurred a lot of vocal controversy, particularly from the Irwin family. A friend of Irwin’s widow released a statement saying, “Terri is devastated Steve is being mocked in such a cruel way. Her worry is that [their children] Bindi and Bob will see it and break down.” Many voiced their criticism, believing the episode to be distasteful. On the other hand, Trey Parker and Matt Stone were surprised that the cameo caused so much controversy, believing that they’ve done things on the show that were far more offensive.

#6: Sex Education

​​This season five episode serves as a satire on sex education in schools. The episode contains many problematic and graphic scenes. Needless to say, the episode generated some significant criticism from censorship boards. Australian channels gave the episode an MA rating and aired it in a later time slot, while the British channel Sky One refused to air the episode altogether. Subsequent rebroadcasts and the DVD version are both edited, and the episode has never been aired in syndication.

#5: The Curious Departure of Isaac Hayes

Isaac Hayes voiced Chef for nearly ten years before randomly quitting in March of 2006. According to the press release made in his name, he left the show due to their supposed “intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs.” Parker and Stone found his departure suspicious and argued that Hayes was a hypocrite, as he only showed contention with the show when it made fun of his own “religion” - Scientology. However, reports began to emerge indicating that the statement was likely made and concocted by someone else. This was later confirmed by Hayes’s son, Isaac Hayes III. According to him, his father’s fellow Scientologists had released the statement under his name after he had suffered a debilitating stroke.

#4: Racial Slurs

On November 17, 2006, Michael Richards effectively tarnished his legacy through a vile and racist rant at Hollywood’s Laugh Factory. This inspired Parker and Stone to write With Apologies to Jesse Jackson, an episode exploring the societal implications of the n-word. The episode contained 43 uncensored uses of the word, but despite that, it received very little media attention. In fact, it was even praised for both its humor and relevance in society. Ironically, this lack of controversy stirred some controversy, particularly from the Parents Television Council, a conservative advocacy group. According to its founder, the lack of media attention was hypocritical, as other people, specifically radio host Don Imus, had been criticized for using similar racist language in the past. However, his controversy is nowhere near as awkward or embarrassing as Randy’s …

#3: The Virgin Mary Statue

This episode sees the citizens of South Park flocking to a statue of the Virgin Mary that shoots a substantial amount of blood from its rectum, which they believe contains healing powers. When Pope Benedict XVI investigates the statue, he discovers that the blood actually emits from the vagina, which negates its healing potential. As you can imagine, numerous groups took issue with the Virgin Mary spraying vaginal blood on people. The Catholic League attempted to have the episode erased and religious groups in New Zealand tried to prevent it from airing in their country. Notable religious figures voiced their concern, including Archbishop Denis Hart and Bishop William Skylstad, who claimed that Comedy Central showed extreme insensitivity by airing the episode.

#2: Closetgate

The season nine episode Trapped in the Closet takes substantial shots at the religion of Scientology and its famous members. This resulted in an enormous amount of backlash, including what was then termed Closetgate. Comedy Central suspiciously canceled a rebroadcast of the episode in March 2006, and many people suspected the involvement of Tom Cruise. Cruise was promoting “Mission: Impossible III” at the time, and Comedy Central’s parent company Viacom also owns Paramount Pictures. According to the theory, Cruise refused to promote the movie unless the episode was pulled, and Viacom relented. While Cruise denied the allegations, the incident caused some major animosity between Parker and Stone and Comedy Central.

#1: Muhammad, Take Two

200 and 201 aren’t just the most controversial episodes of “South Park,” but each has a case for being the most controversial episodes in television history. After the airing of 200, Parker and Stone received open death threats from a radical Muslim organization due to the episode’s depiction of Muhammad. As a result, Comedy Central heavily censored the ending of 201, wherein Kyle gives a satirical speech about the effectiveness of violent threats. The network then became the subject of controversy - not only did they ironically nullify and directly contradict the speech’s theme by censoring the episode, but they proved that violent threats actually work. Critics suggested that the act of cowardly caving to demands would only encourage similar violent behavior from radical organizations.


Do you think “South Park” ever went too far? Let us know in the comments.