‘South Park’ Fans Launch Petition to Prevent Paramount+ From Banning Episodes
South Park has been fighting against censorship for nearly 30 years, but in its latest battle, the show’s fans are resorting to a never-before-used weapon: democracy.
Last month, the most protracted and expensive legal battle in South Park history, had finally expired, leaving the entertainment giant free to stream the entirety of the South Park back catalog — with a couple possible exceptions.
Don't Miss
Shortly after Paramount announced their plan to stream every season and special of South Park on Paramount+, one entertainment insider claimed that the company is surreptitiously plotting to remove a dozen classic episodes from the South Park library. Now, South Park fans are banding together to demand that the government step in to prevent present and future generations of subscribers from missing out on the glory of “Big Gay Al’s Big Gay Boat Ride.”
infamous ban list when it rolls out the “full” South Park library on Paramount+ later this year. In introducing his Change.org petition, Richardson wrote, “Episodes like ‘Super Best Friends,’ ‘Trapped in the Closet,’ ‘200,’ and ‘201’ are not just ‘controversial’ — they’re core parts of the cultural conversation that South Park has fearlessly contributed to for over two decades.”
“I get that some episodes stir controversy, but that’s exactly why South Park exists,” Richardson argued, “to challenge, to offend, and to make people think. Censoring this show goes against everything it’s built on.”
In his call to action to the South Park forum, Richardson told his fellow viewers, “Let’s show them the fanbase still values freedom of expression, not flip-flopping or censorship. We ed this show for decades — it’s time the streaming platforms ed us back!”
It’s important to note that Paramount itself has never confirmed the validity of the supposed 17-episode ban list that has inspired some South Park fans to organize. However, Paramount also hasn’t denied the suggestion of expanded censorship, and as South Park fans noted when the controversy first began, Paramount has already banned every episode included in the leaked list in certain international markets where they have long held full streaming control.
Ultimately, Paramount Global is a private entity that isn’t beholden to the whims of the South Park fandom — and, as one buccaneering naysayer snarked on Reddit, “Those petitions have never changed anything. Hoist the sails.”
