Skydance’s $8 Billion Paramount Acquisition Set to Reshape South Park, Potentially Silencing Its Bold Political Satire Against President Trump

Skydance’s $8 Billion Paramount Acquisition Nears Close, Raising Concerns Over South Park’s Trump Satire

In a move that has sent ripples through the entertainment industry, Skydance Media is on the verge of finalizing its $8 billion acquisition of Paramount Global, a deal that promises to reshape the media landscape. However, as the merger nears completion, speculation is mounting about Skydance’s reported plans to curb South Park’s biting satire of President Donald Trump, a hallmark of the show’s irreverent humor. This potential shift has sparked heated debate about creative freedom, corporate influence, and the delicate balance between politics and entertainment in an increasingly polarized climate.

The Skydance-Paramount Merger: A High-Stakes Deal

The $8 billion merger, approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on July 24, 2025, marks a significant consolidation in Hollywood. Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, and Paramount+, has been navigating turbulent waters, with its assets caught in a complex web of financial, regulatory, and political pressures. Skydance, led by CEO David Ellison and backed by his father, Oracle founder Larry Ellison—a known Trump ally—has positioned itself as a transformative force, promising to overhaul Paramount’s operations, including its approach to editorial content.

The merger’s approval came on the heels of Paramount’s controversial $16 million settlement with Trump over a lawsuit alleging deceptive editing in a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris during the 2024 election cycle. Critics, including Democratic senators like Elizabeth Warren, have labeled the settlement a “bribe” to secure FCC approval, raising alarms about potential editorial concessions to appease the Trump administration. Further scrutiny has fallen on Skydance’s pledges to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs at Paramount and appoint an ombudsman to monitor for ideological bias in CBS’s news coverage, signaling a shift toward a more “Trump-friendly” corporate stance.

South Park’s Defiant Return

Amid this corporate upheaval, South Park’s creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, have not shied away from controversy. On July 23, 2025, just hours after inking a $1.5 billion, five-year deal with Paramount for 50 new episodes and global streaming rights on Paramount+, the show’s 27th season premiered with a scathing episode titled “Sermon on the ’Mount.” The episode took direct aim at both Trump and Paramount, mocking the 60 Minutes settlement, the cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and the broader implications of the Skydance merger.

In true South Park fashion, the episode depicted Trump in bed with Satan, suing the town for $5 billion, and featured an AI-generated parody showing a naked Trump wandering in a desert, with a voiceover quipping, “His penis is teeny-tiny, but his love for us is large.” The episode also referenced Colbert’s cancellation, with a character portraying Jesus warning, “You guys saw what happened to CBS? Well, guess who owns CBS? Paramount. You really want to end up like Colbert?” The White House fired back, with spokesperson Taylor Rogers dismissing the show as “fourth-rate” and accusing it of “uninspired ideas in a desperate attempt for attention.”

Skydance’s Alleged Plan to Curb South Park’s Satire

While South Park’s premiere demonstrated Parker and Stone’s refusal to pull punches, reports suggest Skydance may seek to rein in the show’s provocative content, particularly its satire of Trump, once the merger is finalized. Sources indicate that Skydance’s leadership, under pressure from its ties to Trump allies and the FCC’s regulatory oversight, is considering measures to align Paramount’s programming with a more neutral or conservative editorial stance. This aligns with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s praise for Skydance’s “commitment to make significant changes at the once-storied CBS broadcast network,” a statement that has raised concerns among free speech advocates about potential censorship.

The speculation about curbing South Park’s Trump satire stems from the broader context of Paramount’s recent actions, which critics argue reflect a pattern of capitulation to Trump’s influence. The cancellation of The Late Show, announced just days after Colbert called the $16 million settlement a “big fat bribe,” has fueled suspicions that Paramount is preemptively softening its anti-Trump content to smooth the merger’s path. Posts on X have echoed this sentiment, with users suggesting that Paramount may have urged Parker and Stone to tone down their Trump critiques to avoid jeopardizing the merger, only for the creators to double down with their most “furious” episode yet.

The Creative and Legal Battle Ahead

Despite these pressures, South Park’s creators appear emboldened. Parker and Stone have a history of resisting corporate overreach, as evidenced by their public criticism of the Skydance-Paramount merger as a “shitshow” that delayed their season 27 premiere. Their new $1.5 billion deal, while lucrative, was contentious, with Parker and Stone’s Park County production company accusing Skydance of interfering in negotiations with other platforms like Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery. This tension suggests that any attempt to censor South Park could lead to a high-stakes showdown, potentially involving legal action from the creators, who are 50-50 partners with Paramount in South Park Digital Studios.

Legal experts argue that South Park’s satire is protected under the First Amendment, citing precedents like Hustler Magazine v. Falwell (1988), which upheld the right to parody public figures. Bob Corn-Revere, chief counsel at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, told Newsweek, “Trump would have no plausible claim against the creators of South Park or Paramount.” However, the threat of litigation or regulatory pressure could still create a chilling effect, as seen in Paramount’s settlement with Trump and the cancellation of Colbert’s show.

Why South Park Matters to Paramount—and Trump

South Park remains a crown jewel for Paramount, with Nielsen reporting 10.5 billion minutes viewed in the first half of 2025, making it the 20th most-streamed series in the U.S. Parrot Analytics notes that audience demand for the show is 43 times that of the average TV series. This popularity makes South Park a critical asset for Paramount+, especially as the company competes with streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon. However, the show’s cultural edge—its willingness to offend all sides—drives its value, and any attempt to sanitize its content risks alienating its fanbase and diminishing its marketability.