‘South Park' Creators Slam Paramount Merger as a ‘S— Show' and Say ‘It's F—ing Up' New Episodes: ‘We Hope Fans Get to See Them Somehow'
The Season 27 delay was announced Wednesday morning by Paramount and Comedy Central, and 30 minutes later the 'South Park' X account released a statement from the creators calling the merger a 'shit show' that is 'fucking up 'South Park.''
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'In response to the press release from Comedy Central about the change in premiere date for 'South Park' Trey Parker and Matt Stone said – 'This merger is a shit show 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,'' their statement read.
pic.twitter.com/gNwBAtjOh4
— South Park (@SouthPark) July 2, 2025
Season 26 of 'South Park' released more than two years ago in March 2023 and consisted of only six episodes. A trio of special episodes dropped on Paramount+ between October 2023 and March 2024, but it's been a while since fans got a proper season.
While Parker and Stone did not lay out of the specifics of why the long-pending merger between Comedy Central parent (and owner of CBS, MTV, Paramount Pictures, Paramount+ and more) Paramount Global and Skydance Media are to blame for the delayed 'South Park' premiere, it's clear by the toll the holding pattern has already taken across the rest of the company in the form of cancellations, release date changes and major layoffs. The deal is still pending FCC approval nearly a year after the agreement was announced and with a looming deadline of July 7.
Late Tuesday night, one hold-up to the Paramount-Skydance merger was cleared: CBS and President Donald Trump finally settled the latter's lawsuit over a '60 Minutes' interview. Paramount will pay Trump $16 million to settle the lawsuit and move one step closer to getting the $8 billion merger approved. There's also an ongoing legal battle with 'South Park's' streaming rights. HBO Max has maintained the exclusive streaming rights to the series, but its deal expired in late June and a new deal between Warner Bros. Discover and Paramount hasn't been agreed upon yet. 'South Park' is still available on HBO Max, and extension talks have been ongoing, but Parker and Stone have accused incoming Paramount president Jeff Shell of interfering in their contract negotiations with Warner Bros. Discovery and Netflix.
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