South Park’s Explosive Season 27 Premiere Skewers Trump, Paramount and Colbert Fallout

Prime Highlights

South Park’s Season 27 premiere roasted Donald Trump, Paramount, and the sudden canceling of Stephen Colbert’s show.
The episode aired just after producers signed a $1.5 billion streaming deal with Paramount, straight roasting the network.

Key Fact

Paramount paid Donald Trump a $16 million settlement in a lawsuit over a controversial segment.
CBS announced the news that Colbert’s Late Show would be ending in May 2026, infuriating the public.

Key Background

South Park Season 27 premiere, “Sermon on the ‘Mount,” appeared in the midst of a hurricane of political and corporate outrage. The series did not shy away from it, parodying President Donald Trump’s legal battles and what Paramount has been up to of late. Trump, as is standard in character-overboard South Park tradition, sues the imaginary town for billions and shows up in surreal hallucinations with Satan, representing untrammelled power and political surrealism.

The satire used the particular reference of the $16 million settlement, which was paid to Trump by Paramount, after he publicly condemned a “60 Minutes” program broadcast by CBS, whose parent company is Paramount. The settlement has opened up charges of corporate yielding to political pressure, with its critics accusing the media giant having surrendered under duress. The show was also criticizing CBS’s last-minute cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s Late Show as a corporate action to silence criticism following Colbert’s public denouncement of payment to Trump.

What made this installment so egregious was the timing. Just hours before the debut of the show, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone inked an unprecedented $1.5 billion streaming deal with Paramount. Even with the lucrative deal, the show wasn’t afraid to poke fun at its new corporate partner, implying that no institution—corporate or political—is too safe for its satirical slingshot.

The premiere also addressed issues of media censorship, corporate avarice, and the political chill that political pressure places on free speech. By integrating the schemes of Paramount to consolidate with Skydance and Trump’s increasing hold on the media into the narrative, South Park made a brazen commentary on power plays in entertainment and politics. The episode has since incited general discussion, with viewers applauding its boldness and biting cultural analysis.