‘Desperate' and ‘irrelevant': White House slams ‘South Park' Trump parody
The White House denounced the show, calling it 'desperate' and 'irrelevant' despite its 27 years on air.
The episode comes as Paramount secures a $1.5 billion streaming deal and navigates merger talks with Skydance.
The White House lashed out at the creators of South Park on Thursday after the bawdy satire skewered Donald Trump in an episode featuring an AI-generated version of the US president crawling naked through a desert.
In a no-holds-barred season premiere, the animated Trump character is also seen begging Satan for sex, only to be rebuffed - in part because his penis is too small.
The White House was not amused.
Spokesperson Taylor Rogers said:
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.
'President Trump has delivered on more promises in just six months than any other president in our country's history - and no fourth-rate show can derail President Trump's hot streak.'
The adult animated series, which frequently touches on hot-button issues in American life, is now in its 27th season and remains one of the world's most valuable TV shows.
The season premiere begins with the foul-mouthed Cartman appalled that NPR has been taken off the air by the president, while Randy, a parent, is disturbed by the presence of Jesus in public elementary school.
Complaints to the fictional White House receive only a threat from Trump to sue the mountain town of South Park for billions of dollars.
Meanwhile, animated Trump is threatening to bomb Canada 'like I did Iraq.'
'I thought you just bombed Iran,' the Canadian prime minister replies.
'Iran, Iraq, what the hell's the difference?' replies Trump.
The episode, which sees the fictional Trump ride roughshod over many aspects of American life, ends after the town of South Park makes a financial deal with the president, including an agreement to make public service announcements.
The AI-generated short that follows - ostensibly one of those announcements - shows an overweight Trump staggering through a desert as a narrator casts him as a latter-day Jesus.
The short ends with a naked Trump as the narrator says: 'Trump. His penis is teeny-tiny, but his love for us is large.'
Watch it here
At a Thursday panel at pop culture event Comic-Con in San Diego, South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker revealed internal discussions over depicting a fake presidential phallus.
'They're like, 'Okay, but we're gonna blur the penis.' And I'm like, 'No, you're not going to blur the penis,'' Parker told the audience.
After 'a whole conversation with a lot of grown-up people for about four ... days,' Parker said they decided to add eyes to it to avoid it being blurred.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by South Park (@southpark)
Merger
The episode aired days after creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone reportedly penned a $1.5 billion streaming deal with Paramount that gives the company global rights.
The deal comes at a sensitive time for Paramount, which is trying to secure government approval for a multi-billion-dollar merger with entertainment company Skydance.
The CBS parent caused a furore this month when it agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit Trump had brought over an interview the storied 60 Minutes current affairs program aired with Kamala Harris ahead of last November's election.
The payment was criticised by Democrats as little more than a bribe to help smooth the merger, with Paramount initially dismissing Trump's lawsuit as meritless.
Last week, CBS sparked fury after it cancelled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, whose host is a pointed critic of the president.
The network insisted it was a financial decision, but opponents have painted the move as the latest example of American institutions bowing to Trump.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
US, China to launch new talks on tariff truce extension, easing path for Trump-Xi meeting
By David Lawder STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Top U.S. and Chinese economic officials will resume talks in Stockholm on Monday to try to tackle longstanding economic disputes at the centre of a trade war between the world's top two economies, aiming to extend a truce by three months and keeping sharply higher tariffs at bay. China is facing an August 12 deadline to reach a durable tariff agreement with President Donald Trump's administration, after Beijing and Washington reached preliminary deals in May and June to end weeks of escalating tit-for-tat tariffs and a cut-off of rare earth minerals. Without an agreement, global supply chains could face renewed turmoil from U.S. duties snapping back to triple-digit levels that would amount to a bilateral trade embargo. The Stockholm talks come hot on the heels of Trump's biggest trade deal yet with the European Union on Sunday for a 15% tariff on most EU goods exports to the U.S., including autos. The bloc will also buy $750 billion worth of American energy and make $600 billion worth of U.S. investments in coming years. No similar breakthrough is expected in the U.S.-China talks but trade analysts said that another 90-day extension of a tariff and export control truce struck in mid-May was likely. An extension of that length would prevent further escalation and facilitate planning for a potential meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in late October or early November. A U.S. Treasury spokesperson declined comment on a South China Morning Post report quoting unnamed sources as saying the two sides would refrain from introducing new tariffs or other steps that could escalate the trade war for another 90 days. Trump's administration is poised to impose new sectoral tariffs that will impact China within weeks, including on semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, ship-to-shore cranes and other products. "We're very close to a deal with China. We really sort of made a deal with China, but we'll see how that goes," Trump told reporters on Sunday before European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen struck their tariff deal. DEEPER ISSUES Previous U.S.-China trade talks in Geneva and London in May and June focused on bringing U.S. and Chinese retaliatory tariffs down from triple-digit levels and restoring the flow of rare earth minerals halted by China and Nvidia's H20 AI chips and other goods halted by the United States. So far, the talks have not delved into broader economic issues. They include U.S. complaints that China's state-led, export-driven model is flooding world markets with cheap goods, and Beijing's complaints that U.S. national security export controls on tech goods seek to stunt Chinese growth. "Geneva and London were really just about trying to get the relationship back on track so that they could, at some point, actually negotiate about the issues which animate the disagreement between the countries in the first place," said Scott Kennedy, a China economics expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "I'd be surprised if there is an early harvest on some of these things but an extension of the ceasefire for another 90 days seems to be the most likely outcome," Kennedy said. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has already flagged a deadline extension and has said he wants China to rebalance its economy away from exports to more domestic consumption -- a decades-long goal for U.S. policymakers. Analysts say the U.S.-China negotiations are far more complex than those with other Asian countries and will require more time. China's grip on the global market for rare earth minerals and magnets, used in everything from military hardware to car windshield wiper motors, has proved to be an effective leverage point on U.S. industries. TRUMP-XI MEETING? In the background of the talks is speculation about a possible meeting between Trump and Xi in late October. Trump has said he will decide soon on a landmark trip to China, and a new flare-up of tariffs and export controls would likely derail planning. Sun Chenghao, a fellow at Tsinghua University's Center for International Security and Strategy in Beijing, said that a Trump-Xi summit would be an opportunity for the U.S. to lower the 20% tariffs on Chinese goods related to fentanyl. In exchange, he said the Chinese side could make good on its 2020 pledge to increase purchases of U.S. farm products and other goods. "The future prospect of the heads of state summit is very beneficial to the negotiations because everyone wants to reach an agreement or pave the way in advance," Sun said. Still, China will likely request a reduction of multi-layered U.S. tariffs totaling 55% on most goods and further easing of U.S. high-tech export controls, analysts said. Beijing has argued that such purchases would help reduce the U.S. trade deficit with China, which reached $295.5 billion in 2024.
San Francisco Chronicle
22 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
George Lucas reveals new details about Lucas Museum during Comic-Con 2025
George Lucas made his first-ever appearance at San Diego Comic-Con, offering a first look at the long-anticipated Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. The panel, held in the convention's largest venue, drew more than 6,000 attendees and closed out the four-day event with one of its most widely attended sessions on Sunday, July 27. Joined by director Guillermo del Toro, Lucasfilm executive Doug Chiang and moderator Queen Latifah, the 'Star Wars' director discussed the museum's mission and revealed new details ahead of its 2026 opening in Los Angeles' Exposition Park. 'Society cannot exist without a common belief system,' Lucas said. 'And that's where illustration is vital to show you what that means in everyday life.' He described the museum as 'a temple to the people's art.' The $1 billion institution, co-founded by Lucas and his wife, Mellody Hobson, will focus on narrative art across cultures and periods — from ancient cave paintings to comic books and digital media. The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art was originally proposed for San Francisco, where Lucas aimed to build the institution in the Presidio on a former Army commissary site at Crissy Field near the Golden Gate Bridge. Despite strong political support from figures including then-Gov. Jerry Brown and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the Presidio Trust ultimately rejected the proposal, citing concerns over the scale and design. Lucas then explored a location in Chicago, which also fell through following a legal challenge from a local preservation group. After years of delays and shifting plans, Lucas selected Los Angeles' Exposition Park in 2017 as the museum's permanent home. Del Toro, who serves on the museum's board, compared the museum's focus to the canonization of pop culture. 'Imagine if we only had classical music, and rock 'n' roll was never created?' he said. 'This is rock 'n' roll and rock 'n' roll needs to be enshrined.' Chiang noted that comic and magazine art were once 'looked down upon,' but said the museum will elevate underrecognized creators. 'They are acknowledging and giving respect to artists who really haven't been highlighted before,' he said. The panel ended with a standing ovation. The museum remains on track to open next year despite recent layoffs and leadership changes.
San Francisco Chronicle
22 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Hong Kong's CK Hutchison seeks Chinese investor to join Panama Ports deal
HONG KONG (AP) — A Hong Kong conglomerate that's selling ports at the Panama Canal said Monday it may seek a Chinese investor to join a consortium of buyers, a move that could please Beijing but bring more U.S. scrutiny to the geopolitically fraught deal. CK Hutchison Holdings' initial plan to sell port assets in dozens of countries to a group that includes U.S. investment firm BlackRock Inc. pleased President Donald Trump, who has alleged that China interferes with the critical shipping lane's operations in Panama. However, they apparently angered Beijing and drew a review from Chinese anti-monopoly authorities. A Hutchison subsidiary has operated ports at both ends of the Panama Canal since 1997. After months of uncertainty brought by tensions between Washington and Beijing, Hutchison said in a statement that the exclusive negotiations period with the consortium has expired. However, it added 'the Group remains in discussions with members of the consortium with a view to inviting major strategic investor from the PRC to join as a significant member of the consortium,' referring to the People's Republic of China. It said they needed to change the membership of the consortium and the structure of the transaction for the deal to be able to pass reviews by 'all relevant authorities." The awkward position Hutchison found itself in for months highlights the challenges Hong Kong business elites face in navigating Beijing's expectations of national loyalty, especially when relations between China and the United States are strained. Hong Kong has overhauled its electoral system to ensure the city is run by 'patriots.' CK Hutchison is owned by the family of Hong Kong's richest man, Li Ka-shing. It announced March 4 that it would sell all its shares in Hutchison Port Holdings and in Hutchison Port Group Holdings to the consortium that also includes BlackRock subsidiary Global Infrastructure Partners and Terminal Investment Limited, a subsidiary of the Mediterranean Shipping Company. In May, Hutchinson co-managing director, Dominic Lai told shareholders that Terminal Investment was the main investor. Its parent company is led by Italian shipping scion Diego Aponte, whose family reportedly has a longstanding relationship with Li's. The initial deal, valued at nearly $23 billion including $5 billion in debt, would have given the consortium control over 43 ports in 23 countries, including the ports of Balboa and Cristobal, located at either end of the canal. That agreement also required approval from Panama's government.
