Trey Parker and Matt Stone Allege Paramount Global and Skydance Media Merger Is ‘F**king Up’ ‘South Park’: It’s a ‘Sh**show’

Trey Parker and Matt Stone are predicting a downward spiral for “South Park” amid the proposed merger between Comedy Central parent Paramount Global and Skydance Media. The “South Park” co-creators took to X to slam the delays for their Season 27 premiere, linking the date change to the network negotiations.

“This merger is a shitshow and is fucking up ‘South Park,’” the duo wrote. “We are at the studio working on new episodes and we hope the fans get to see them somehow.”

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Season 27 was set to debut July 9 on Comedy Central; it was announced today, July 2, that the season will premiere July 23.

The Comedy Central crown jewel “South Park” has been at the center of a threatened lawsuit between Parker and Stone’s Park County and Paramount. Parker and Stone co-operate joint venture South Park Digital Studios with Paramount; the company owns the streaming rights to the hit animated series. The $500 million exclusive streaming licensing deal with HBO Max, as inked in 2019, recently expired in late June 2025. Paramount is pushing for the series to belong to the Paramount+ streaming platform. Yet the “South Park” streaming rights are non-exclusive, and Parker and Stone are alleging that expected Paramount Global President Jeff Shell (after the Skydance merger) is interfering in deal negotiations.

There are two years left on Paramount’s $900 million overall deal with Park County. THR previously reported that Park County has threatened legal action against RedBird Capital executive Shell, claiming he is “directing Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery to modify certain terms of their offers in a ‘manner calculated to benefit Paramount at the expense’ of the company,” as THR cited from an attorney letter.

Shell allegedly was asking HBO Max parent company WBD to give Paramount+ an exclusive 12-month window for new “South Park” episodes, among other amendments to a streaming offer.

“We hereby demand that you, Redbird, and Skydance immediately cease your interference,” the Park County 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.”

Parker previously told Vanity Fair in 2024 that the “South Park” was “waiting for Paramount to figure all their shit out” amid the election.

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