New Head of Paramount Defends South Park Amid Criticism from Trump Administration

At least at the moment, David Ellison, the new owner of Comedy Central’s parent company, Paramount, is standing by South Park amid its current run of episodes absolutely demolishing the Trump Administration.

In an interview with CNN on Thursday, Ellison said he has been a fan of South Park for his entire adult life, and praised creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker as “incredibly talented.” He also defended the duo as “equal opportunity offenders and always have been.”

Ellison officially took over as head of Paramount on Thursday, following the completion of Skydance’s $8 billion merger with the company. In recent weeks, Paramount’s decisions to cancel the Late Show with Stephen Colbert and settle a lawsuit with Donald Trump over a 60 Minutes segment sparked concerns that the incoming leadership was taking steps to silence some of the president’s most vocal critics — potentially to smooth the path for FCC approval.

However, speaking with reporters on Thursday, Ellison claimed he was not involved in either of those decisions, attributing them to the actions of the previous regime headed by Shari Redstone. But he  reiterated that, unlike South Park, the Late Show was no longer a profitable property for Paramount, which was the reason for its cancelation.

For its part, the Trump Administration has called South Park irrelevant (despite the show receiving its best ratings in 26 years). Donald Trump himself is reportedly seething at the way he’s been portrayed on the show, while DHS Secretary Kristi Noem called her depiction a “lazy” attack from liberals. VP JD Vance, on the other hand, seemed to relish his appearance on the show.