South Park has vanished from Paramount+, and fans are scrambling to figure out what just happened and what it means for the future of one of TV’s most iconic animated series.
As of this weekend, all 26 seasons of the main series have been pulled from the streaming platform, leaving behind only a few stand-alone specials like The End of Obesity and The 25th Anniversary Concert.
At first, some assumed this was a glitch or a region-specific licensing hiccup. But by Sunday, U.S. users confirmed it wasn’t just an overseas issue; South Park was gone for everyone.
The removal comes at a tense moment for the show and its relationship with Paramount Global. Series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have been openly frustrated with the company’s handling of the franchise, especially in light of Paramount’s ongoing merger with Skydance. That merger appears to be generating chaos behind the curtain, with ripple effects now reaching the flagship show.
In typical South Park fashion, Parker and Stone didn’t hold back. From the show’s official X (Twitter) account, they bluntly called the situation a “sh–show” and said the merger is “f—–g up South Park.” According to them, they’re still in the studio, still making episodes, but unsure how—or where—fans will be able to see them.
There’s a lot of money at stake here, too. Paramount still holds a $900 million digital rights deal with the South Park creators, and yet somehow, the show has disappeared from their own platform. The Hollywood Reporter recently noted that legal threats have already been made, with Parker and Stone accusing Paramount execs, specifically incoming president Jeff Shell, of meddling in negotiations that were meant to secure wider distribution.
For now, the only confirmed place to stream all seasons of South Park is HBO Max, which holds its own share of the streaming rights in what’s turned into one of the most tangled licensing deals in modern TV history.
Meanwhile, Season 27 is still scheduled to premiere July 23 on Comedy Central, though even that comes after an unexplained delay earlier this month.
Streaming rights battles aren’t new, but what’s happening here is more than friction. It’s a creative tension, legal brinkmanship, and corporate reorganization all colliding at once. And for a show that’s spent 25 years satirizing exactly this kind of chaos, the irony isn’t lost on anyone.
Fans might get more South Park soon, but where and when is anyone’s guess.