From Isaac Hayes to Paris Hilton: 10 celebrities who were pissed off by ‘South Park’
Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s long-running animated comedy South Park has always stirred controversy, particularly in the celebrity-focuses tabloids. Recently, a new episode of the show took aim at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who are said to have found the experience “distressing”.
However, with even a quarter of an eye on what South Park has always been about, Harry and Megan ought to have been prepared for their appearances and should have easily shrugged it off. They didn’t, even though South Park has persistently made famous people the object of ridicule.
What could be funnier than placing well-known public figures in ridiculous scenarios that highlight their flaws? Perhaps there is a sense that celebs are given too much protection over their image and character, so Parker and Stone make it their personal mission to call out the famous and show their audience that they are, in fact, flawed just like the rest of us.
We’re going to take a closer look at ten celebrities who have been made the target of derision and subsequently lost their cool, unable to give their public persona up to the artistry of satire. So from the Scientologist actor Isaac Hayes to the “media personality” Paris Hilton, let’s get offended.
10 celebrities who were pissed off by South Park:
Isaac Hayes
Issac Hayes had performed on the show as Chef for many years, but when the ‘Trapped in the Closet’ episode aired, he thought that Parker and Stone had taken their comedy too far. After all, the actor is a notorious Scientologist, and the episode poked fun at his spiritual beliefs and practices.
“There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends, and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins,” Hayes later stated upon leaving his role. “As a civil rights activist of the past 40 years, I cannot support a show that disrespects those beliefs and practices.”
Tom Cruise
The Chef actor is not the only Scientology follower to have been riled up by the show, though, as arguably the biggest celebrity of all affiliated with the church, Tom Cruise, also took issue with the ‘Trapped in the Closet’ episode.
Not only was the finger pointed at his religious beliefs, but Parker and Stone also brought into question the actor’s sexuality, with the fictional Cruise hiding, as the episode title suggests, in the closet. Cruise was said to be so upset that he stopped promoting Mission: Impossible III.
Russell Crowe
Around the time the ‘Fighting Around the World’ episode aired, Russell Crowe had conquered the headlines for his aggressive behaviour. So it was only natural that Parker and Stone decided to use that bait for one of their episodes in which Crowe hosts a TV show about him scrapping pretty much anything that moves.
When the episode in question was brought up in a 60 Minutes interview, Crowe primarily responded with short answers. Evidently, Parker and Stone had portrayed him in a negative light, which looked to have got to Crowe, even if he wouldn’t admit it, and if he claimed the two writers were indeed enough (although this was likely just to save face).
Barbara Streisand
Even back in the first season of South Park, Parker and Stone had pointed the mocking finger at celebrities. Barbara Streisand was selected as a point of ridicule over the fact she had spoken with distaste about Colorado. The episode ‘Mecha-Streisand’ made her the object of derision.
She said of her appearance, “I wasn’t even aware of this show until I read in Time magazine that they had used me in a very negative way. Let me say that I enjoy satire and parody. But I wonder if shows like South Park don’t add to the cynicism and negativity in our culture. Maybe children come away feeling that any woman who dares to accomplish something is the incarnation of self-centeredness and greed.”
Sarah Jessica Parker
SJP was the subject of mockery in a cruel showing in which Parker and Stone rather shockingly called her a “transvestite donkey witch”, claiming that the only difference between a moose and herself is a set of hooves. Parker felt that the two writers went too far, using only her physical appearance to deride her rather than any of her accomplishments.
“Proper film or theatre criticism is part of what I do; I don’t read them, but I don’t begrudge a critic for an opinion,” she said in response a year later. “But personal criticism I find distasteful. We think it’s funny to be mean, and women say awful things about other women and use terrible language and call each other awful names. It’s so uncivilised and vulgar; it’s not good for our souls.”
Terri Irwin
When Steve Irwin died back in 2006, Parker and Stone did not hesitate to include him in the ‘Hell of Earth 2006’ episode. After all, it is the fact that episodes are written and made so quickly that means that the pair always have their finger on the pulse.
However, the episode naturally upset Irwin’s widow, Terri, when she saw her late husband with a sting ray sticking out of his chest in hell. Terri was “devastated” by the episode and condemned it outright, citing her concern for her and Steve’s children.
Ed Sheeran
While all of the above have featured in the episode they were upset by, Ed Shereen took issue with an episode about his demographic. The season nine episode ‘Ginger Kids’ took the piss, not only out of Sheeran (inadvertently) but all people with ginger hair.
Being ginger was an easy call-out in the school playgrounds of yore, but the South Park episode made it all the worse when several of Sheeran’s schoolmates wound him up for his hair colour, accusing him of having “gingervitis”. It was when Sheeran moved to the United States that people began admiring his hair rather than mocking it.
Mama June Shannon
As if it weren’t ridiculed enough on social media, Parker and Stone took it one step further when they took aim at the Here Comes Honey Boo Boo TV series and its titular toddler in ‘Raising the Bar’. The episode saw Honey Boo select her favourite pig for a heart transplant after she got so fat from eating too much spaghetti and butter.
On reflection, Mama June felt that the episode lacked fine taste and was “kind of trashy”, which is true of all South Park episodes but is equally what makes them so funny. Shannon claimed that as a “big person”, she didn’t take offence, but she clearly did as she was not happy about her daughter’s representation.
Jennifer Lopez
J-Lo was already a bit miffed at Parker and Stone when they infamously wore her dress high on LSD to the Oscars award ceremony in 2000. But her hatred for them intensified when she appeared in season seven’s ‘Fat Butt and Pancake Head’.
It was later reported that J-Lo sacked people on the spot during the production of one of her music videos when they whispered lines from the episode near her. Parker himself was informed that J-Lo lost her cool on set when her co-workers started saying, “Oooh tacos, I love tacos,” which would have been to his great delight.
Paris Hilton
The season eight episode ‘Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset’ sees the residents of South Park eagerly anticipate the arrival of Paris Hilton. However, when she arrives, her obnoxious attitude winds everyone up to no end, including her tiny dog, who commits suicide, unable to take it any longer.
When Hilton was asked whether she finds parodies of her amusing, she simply replied, “I haven’t seen it, but when people copy you, that’s like the most flattering thing, so whatever people can say, I just laugh about it. It doesn’t matter to me.” While she seems to be brushing things off here, it’s likely that beneath the thin veneer of calm lies a rage of boiling blood.
