Comedy Central has removed an episode of South Park that parodied Charlie Kirk, which aired before his fatal shooting.
The influential right-wing speaker was known for attending university campuses across the United States to debate students on issues ranging from trans rights to gun control.
During a visit to Utah Valley University on the first stop in his ‘American Comeback Tour’, he was shot in the neck and later confirmed dead by President Donald Trump, aged 31.
The late Turning Point USA founder had cultivated 3.8million followers on YouTube and was himself the subject of mass discourse across the political and cultural spectrum for his views.
In an August 6 episode of South Park, Got A Nut, Eric Cartman transforms into a character heavily resembling Kirk with the same hairstyle and mannerisms who decides to go to college campuses and host open debates with students on topics like abortion rights.
A rerun of season 27, episode two, was reportedly meant to run on Wednesday night, but the network replaced it with the first episode instead on cable TV, per AZ Central.
In the UK, Got A Nut is not available on NOW (as well as episode one), but can still be streamed on Paramount Plus through Amazon Prime.
Ahead of the episode airing, Kirk had told Fox News he was taking it as a ‘badge of honour’ to be parodied by the show.
‘They’re going to obviously make fun of me […] but I think it’s kind of funny and it kind of goes to show the cultural impact and the resonance that our movement has been able to achieve,
‘We as conservatives should be able to take a joke, we shouldn’t take ourselves so seriously – that’s something that the left has always done,’ he added at the time.
Despite his words from earlier this year, some Kirk supporters have criticised the show after his death for their portrayal of the father-of-two.
‘They do an episode which is basically a hit piece on Charlie Kirk and a couple weeks later he’s murdered,’ @benkenobi wrote on X.
‘Remove South Park from all streaming services,’ @magacarter demanded in one post, claiming the creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone had ‘blood on their hands.
‘I know Charlie Kirk said he laughed at being made fun of on South Park. But part of me feels that South Park contributed to this a little bit,’ @magnetixsql shared.
The series regularly offers satirical takes on Trump and the MAGA movement, featuring portrayals of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, 53, as well as Vice President JD Vance in a plot line about the government’s ICE programme.
It outperformed the season opener, scoring6.2 million average viewers across Paramount+ and Comedy Central, with the linear ratings the highest South Park has seen since 2018, according to Variety.
When Metro contacted the US Homeland Security for comment regarding the episode at the time, assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin told us in a statement: ‘We want to thank South Park for drawing attention to ICE law enforcement recruitment.’
Metro has reached out to Comedy Central for comment.
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