South Park is imploding: the lawsuit debacle putting the show’s future in jeopardy

South Park, on the cusp of its 27th season, is caught in behind-the-scenes turmoil that now threatens the show’s future. At the center of the conflict is the $8 billion acquisition of Paramount by David Ellison’s Skydance Media, a deal that has become a major flashpoint for creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker.

The troubles really started in 2019, when Stone and Parker’s 50/50 ad-sharing deal with the Viacom-owned Comedy Central came to an end. Stone and Parker followed it up by signing a five-year, $500 million streaming rights deal with WarnerMedia (soon to be Warner Bros. Discovery) to exclusively stream all existing and new South Park seasons starting June 2020 through mid-2025. 

Later in 2021, the duo signed a massive $900 million deal with ViacomCBS (now Paramount Global) for six more seasons and 14 movies (now referred to as specials) to be streamed on Paramount Plus to help bolster its catalog. It also had the licensing rights to stream all previous episodes of the series to international markets.

Things were sweet until a couple of years passed, Warner Bros. Discovery’s deal was near its end, and Stone and Parker had no new episodes. Suddenly, Warner Bros. Discovery sued Paramount Global in 2023, saying its competitor aired new episodes of the popular animated comedy series after Warner paid for exclusive rights. Warner Bros was upset Paramount got two “Pandemic specials” while it was still waiting for new episodes for its new season, and that the specials should’ve been offered to Warner Bros first. The 2020 pandemic slowed production for new episodes, but they were able to release two specials inspired by the COVID-19 experience in September 2020 and March 2021, respectively. However, since they were South Park specials and not new episodes, Paramount felt justified, despite the specials first premiering on its owned channel, Comedy Central.

The duo and Paramount both agreed that after their current deal ends in 2027, a new 10-year, $3 billion overall deal would be drafted for the series. The curveball: Skydance Media, after many negotiations, is set to acquire Paramount Global, and reports suggest it would rather have a five-year deal instead. That’s resulted in a stalemate between the creators and the future owners.

As the HBO Max (that’s right, not Max) deal approached its June 2025 expiration, a high-stakes bidding war broke out involving Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix, Paramount/Skydance, and potential other platforms. Stone and Parker have accused Paramount of interfering in their ongoing negotiations with rival streamers like Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery, both of which are said to have submitted offers to host the series. 

While Stone and Parker ultimately reached a temporary extension with Warner Bros. Discovery to keep South Park on HBO Max, the situation remains complex. A separate international licensing dispute has led to the show’s removal from Paramount Plus in several global markets, though the original specials remain available on the platform. This forced Paramount to delay its upcoming season 27 premiere from July 9 to July 23, as it would end up missing several markets, unable to access it due to the licensing deal.

“This merger is a shitshow and it’s fucking up South Park,” Parker and Stone wrote in a social media post on July 2. “We are at the studio working on new episodes and we hope the fans get to see them somehow.”

Once the temporary deal with Warner Bros. Discovery expires, streaming South Park could become significantly more difficult in the United States. The show is already unavailable in key international markets like Canada, Australia, France, and Germany, an issue that has already forced the delay of the upcoming season.

If the season premieres and the temporary deal expires, there will be no way to watch the show beyond Comedy Central. And if those international territories remain inaccessible or if a new distribution deal isn’t secured before 2027, there’s a real possibility that any future seasons could be postponed indefinitely.