The opening episode of South Park Season 27 shocked audiences and made headlines after the show mocked President Donald Trump, including a scene that depicted him naked in bed with Satan. Things became even more heated when Trump’s White House responded to the explosive premiere episode by calling the show “fourth-rate” and accusing it of being desperate for attention.
Now, asked about the reaction during a panel at Comic-Con International in San Diego, South Park co-creator Trey Parker responded with a mock-serious face: “We’re terribly sorry.” Parker was taking part in the panel alongside co-creator Matt Stone, Beavis and Butt-Head creator Mike Judge, and actor Andy Samberg, who co-created the animated show Digman.
On Thursday, the day after the episode aired, White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers released a strongly worded statement: “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 long-running satirical animated series is known for taking aim at authority figures, but this episode stunned many, with several critics praising it. The Guardian even called it “South Park’s most furious episode ever.” The episode, shown on Paramount+, aired shortly after the U.S. Federal Communications Commission approved a merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media. The approval followed weeks after Paramount Global agreed to pay $16 million (£13.5 million) to settle a legal dispute with Trump over a CBS interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris.
In 2017, Trey Parker told The Los Angeles Times that South Park had fallen into the “trap” of mocking the U.S. president every week: “We’re becoming: ‘Tune in to see what we’re going to say about Trump.’ Matt and I hated it but we got stuck in it somehow,” he said. At the time, Parker added that he and Matt Stone wanted the show to return to its roots: “Kids being kids and being ridiculous and outrageous.”
