Comedy Central has reportedly pulled a controversial South Park episode mocking Charlie Kirk from its cable lineup, but the satire is still just a click away for anyone with a Paramount+ subscription.
Charlie Kirk on his YouTube channel – YouTube, Charlie Kirk
The episode, titled Got a Nut, aired in August as part of Season 27 and drew heavy fire for lampooning Kirk through a parody version of Eric Cartman. Yet even after Kirk’s assassination this week at Utah Valley University, the network has only gone halfway—removing the episode from its nightly TV rotation while quietly keeping it up on streaming.
The Episode That Sparked Outrage
Got a Nut skewered multiple political figures: Kristi Noem gleefully shooting at dogs, Donald Trump in bed with the devil, and Vice President JD Vance played for laughs. But it was the caricature of Kirk that grabbed headlines.
Cartman, in a toilet-seat gag, hosts a podcast mimicking Kirk’s blunt debate style. He spars with students on political issues, thumps a Bible during a rally, and aggressively mocks “woke” opponents. The resemblance to Kirk was clear enough that the conservative activist himself laughed about it on his podcast, saying the show “accidentally ends up spreading the gospel.”
From Controversy to Crisis
The jokes seemed typical for South Park until Kirk’s shocking murder on Wednesday. He was killed by a gunshot to the neck while taking questions at UVU, leaving behind his wife Erika and two young children.
Charlie Kirk during his interview with Tucker Carlson – YouTube, Charlie Kirk
In the wake of his death, critics charged that South Park had irresponsibly made Kirk into a target.
“Pulled”… But Not Really
Comedy Central may have pulled Got a Nut from its regular cable airings, but Paramount+—the network’s streaming service—still carries the episode in full. That mixed approach has raised questions about whether the removal was a genuine act of sensitivity or simply a PR gesture to tamp down backlash.
Clyde and Butters parodying Charlie Kirk on South Park – YouTube, Charlie Kirk
The optics matter. By keeping the episode online, ViacomCBS continues to profit off the very satire critics claim is dangerous—while publicly signaling they’ve “taken action” by scrubbing it from cable. For fans and detractors alike, the inconsistency is impossible to ignore.
A Double Standard Compared to Past Censorship
Comedy Central and Paramount have a long history of pulling South Park episodes when the wrong group is offended. Back in Season 10, the two-part Cartoon Wars episodes (episodes 3 and 4) built their entire story around Family Guy daring to show the Muslim Prophet in a cutaway gag. The show teased the image but ultimately censored itself under pressure.
A South Park parody of Family Guy that has since been pulled from streaming services for offending Muslims – YouTube, George W. Bush
Fast forward to the show’s 200th and 201st episodes, which again toyed with depicting Muhammad — this time as part of a broader storyline bringing back many of the series’ past villains. Once again, executives intervened. Not only did they censor portions of the broadcast, but they eventually wiped all four episodes — Cartoon Wars Part 1 & 2 and 200 & 201 — from both cable reruns and all streaming platforms.
To this day, those episodes remain absent from Paramount+, despite being part of the show’s official history.
The contrast is striking. When threats came from Islamist groups, ViacomCBS scrubbed the content from existence. Yet when an episode mocks Charlie Kirk — a conservative Christian who was assassinated — the network only pulled it from cable reruns while leaving it on Paramount+ for continued streaming revenue.
Paramount’s Half Measure
Charlie Kirk’s death was a national tragedy that exposed bitter divides in America. For South Park, a show that has long thrived on skewering both left and right, the timing of this particular episode has turned satire into scandal.
A scene from South Park season 27 – YouTube, South Park Studios
But the fact remains: while Comedy Central may want to give the appearance of pulling the episode, the reality is that it remains alive and well on streaming. That half-measure leaves Parker and Stone’s work at the center of a new culture war flashpoint—one in which tragedy, comedy, and corporate strategy collide.
How do you feel about Paramount leaving the Charlie Kirk South Park episode up on Paramount+? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
UP NEXT: Senior Sucker Punch Dev Drew Harrison Who Worked on Ghost of Yotei Celebrates Death of Charlie Kirk
