‘South Park' Creators Say Skydance-Paramount Merger Is 'a Sh**show' and Is 'F***ing Up' Their Show
Parker and Stone have had enough of this 'shitshow' — their words, not ours.
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'In response to the press release from Comedy Central about the change in premiere date for South Park Trey Parker & Matt Stone said — 'This merger is a shitshow 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,'' a tweet posted to South Park's official X profile reads.
South Park season 27 is now expected to premiere on Wednesday, July 23, at 10 p.m. ET/PT, representing a two-week scheduling push. The merger the guys are referring to, which will combine David Ellison's Skydance and Paramount Global, is set to close by July 6. The deadline could be extended.
The press release in question, the one announcing the rescheduling of South Park's new season, comes amid a fight over the hit animated series' streaming rights. As first reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Parker and Stone (through their attorney) threatened legal action against Paramount, accusing the company's incoming president Jeff Shell of meddling in their contract negotiations with Warner Bros. Discovery and Netflix. Shell will be installed as Skydance-Paramount's president once the deal is done.
Paramount currently has two years left on its $900 million deal for South Park's digital rights; South Park streams on Paramount+, and Parker and Stone believe Shell is willing to tank bids from WBD and Netflix to keep it that way.
In the June 21 letter obtained by THR, Park County, the entertainment company run by Parker and Stone, threatened legal action over Shell allegedly interfering in discussions with the potential bidders, including an ask to modify certain terms of their offers in a 'manner calculated to benefit Paramount at the expense' of Park County. The letter pointed to Shell urging WBD to give Paramount+ an exclusive 12-month window for new episodes of the show and to shorten the term of the deal from 10 to five years, which could worsen bids for the series.
Parker and Stone are 50-50 partners with Paramount in joint venture South Park Digital Studios, referred to in the letter as SPDS.
'We hereby demand that you, Redbird, and Skydance immediately cease your interference,' the letter states. 'If these activities continue, we will have no choice but to act to both protect our rights and discharge any obligations we may have to the public.'
Redbird Capital Partners is a venture capital firm; Shell is its current chairman of sports and media.
'You did this behind Park County's back,' its general counsel Afshin Beyzaee wrote to Shell. 'That self-dealing would have been absolutely restricted if it were done by Paramount itself. So, it is simply outrageous that even before it has been granted the authority to close the merger with Paramount, Redbird and Skydance are jumping the gun and using confidential information of SPDS to purport to make demands on behalf of SPDS that even Paramount has no right to make.'
Park County says that Shell 'had no right or authority to be demanding that SPDS's prospective counterparties make modifications to their proposals, especially modifications that would depress the value of their proposals.'
In a statement provided to THR at the time, a Skydance spokesperson responded, 'Under the terms of the transaction agreement, Skydance has the right to approve material contracts.'
Reps for Paramount Global and Comedy Central did not immediately respond to THR's request for comment on Parker and Stone's tweeted statement.
South Park debuted on Comedy Central on Aug. 13, 1997. The series followed a viral animated short — 'The Spirit of Christmas' — featuring the show's characters Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny.
Parker and Stone executive produce South Park along with Anne Garefino and Frank C. Agnone II; Eric Stough, Adrien Beard, Bruce Howell and Vernon Chatman are producers. Christopher Brion is the creative director of South Park Digital Studios, a joint venture between Parker and Stone and Paramount.
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