Why has South Park been removed from Paramount Plus? Lawsuit from Trey Parker and Matt Stone explained
Paramount Plus subscribers have been left fuming after South Park was removed from the streaming service.
Outside the USA, the long-running cartoon comedy is no longer accessible for customers, in what on the surface seems to be a baffling decision.
South Park, which follows a group of foul-mouthed animated kids, has been one of the biggest attractions to Paramount Plus over the past few years, swaying people to subscribe to the platform as the war between streaming services only gets more expensive for consumers.
The news comes just days after the announcement that season 27’s release had been pushed back from July 9 to July 23.
Paramount has two years left on its $900m deal for South Park, which gives the broadcasting giant the digital rights to publish the show on its streaming platform.
But the relationship between Paramount and creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone has been tumultuous at best, with the pair threatening legal action against the company last month.
They accused incoming president Jeff Shell of interfering with their contract negotiations, which are being held with both Netflix and Warner Brothers.
A post on the South Park X account said: “In response to the press release from Comedy Central about the change in premiere date for South Park Trey Parker and Matt Stone said - ‘This merger is a s***show and it’s f***ing up South Park. We are at the studio working on new episodes and we hope the fans get to see them somehow’.”
However, this potential lawsuit is not the reason why South Park has disappeared from the streaming service.
Instead, the international license for the show has expired, meaning it legally cannot be broadcast by Paramount. International fans can still watch the show on Comedy Central, however.
It’s thought that this is just a temporary issue, and that once the international license has been renewed, South Park will be back on Paramount Plus.