FCC Boss Brendan Carr's Freedom of Speech Under Threat in Delayed South Park Episode

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South Park’s delayed episode — the first since the assassination of Charlie Kirk — has aired on Comedy Central, revealing this week’s target to be Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Brendan Carr.

Last week, Comedy Central delayed the latest episode of South Park just hours before it was due to air. Co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone issued a statement at the time insisting the blame lay at their door.

Parker and Stone create each episode week-by-week, which makes for a chaotic production but topical shows. But they have switched to a bi-weekly schedule for this season, with the elongated production time allowing the pair more room to work on each episode, something Paramount is reportedly happy with.

The delay sparked speculation that the episode was pulled out of fear of reprisal following the assassination of Charlie Kirk, an ally of Donald Trump who was shot at a Utah university on Wednesday, September 10. Comedy Central had pulled the scheduled repeat of South Park Season 27, Episode 2, titled Got a Nut, in which Eric Cartman cosplays as Charlie Kirk, becomes a right-wing podcaster and issues messages similar to those used by Kirk in the past as he "masterdebates" college graduates. Cartman even dishes out an award called 'The Charlie Kirk Award for Young Masterdebaters.'

Warning! Spoilers for South Park Season 27 Episode 5 follow:

This week’s episode, titled ‘Conflict of Interest,’ takes aim at FCC boss Brendan Carr in a story that revolves around prediction market apps and Trump’s repeated botched attempts to get rid of his and Satan’s baby.

Trump lays a number of traps for Satan designed to harm the unborn baby, but Carr unwittingly triggers them instead. Carr ends up hospitalized with toxoplasmosis from exposure to cat faeces. The doctor’s prognosis isn’t positive: “His bones are healing so he may regain full range of motion, but if the toxoplasmosis parasite gets to his brain, I’m afraid he may lose his freedom of speech."

That’s a clear joke about Carr’s involvement in the suspension of talk show host Jimmy Kimmel. On September 17, 2025, ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! indefinitely after its host made on-air comments about the assassination of Kirk. ABC axed the show after the FCC threatened regulatory action, raising concerns the Trump administration was curtailing the free speech of its critics. The FCC is the agency that regulates U.S. licensed communications on broadcast television and radio.

Kimmel had said the "Maga gang" was "desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them" and trying "everything they can" to "score political points from it.”

He also compared Trump's reaction to Kirk’s death to "how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish.” Kimmel had condemned the attack and sent "love" to the Kirk family following the shooting.

Carr accused Kimmel of "the sickest conduct possible" and said networks like the Disney-owned ABC could "find ways to change conduct and take action... or there's going to be additional work for the FCC.”

U.S. president Donald Trump then suggested some TV networks opposed to him should have their licenses "taken away.” As reported by the BBC, Trump said:

"I have read some place that the networks were 97% against me, again, 97% negative, and yet I won and easily [in last year's election]," Trump said. "They give me only bad publicity [and] press. I mean, they're getting a license. I would think maybe their license should be taken away."

ABC subsequently lifted Kimmel’s suspension, who returned to late-night U.S. television this week to deliver an emotional monologue criticizing "anti-American" threats to free speech. Carr has insisted his comments about Kimmel had nothing to do with ABC’s decision to suspend the talk show host.

The South Park episode takes a turn when it emerges JD Vance wants to see Trump and Satan’s baby bite the dust, too, because he’s afraid it will succeed Trump as President instead of him. In a sinister threat to Carr, who he believes is thwarting his plans, Vance says: “We can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way.”

That’s another nod to Carr’s comments ahead of the Jimmy Kimmel suspension. Carr had warned “we can do this the easy way or the hard way” on a right-wing podcast before ABC took action.

During Kimmel’s return to television on Tuesday, Hollywood legend Robert De Niro made a surprise appearance in a skit where he assumed the role of the boss of the FCC. De Niro became irate when Kimmel suggested the FCC had been using “mob tactics” to suppress free speech. “What the f*** did you just say to me?” De Niro said, rekindling memories of his role as a gangster in Goodfellas.

When Kimmel asked him not to swear or they’d be fined by the FCC, he replied: “I am the FCC.”

South Park’s recent episodes have drawn some of the series' best-ever ratings, as well as global attention, for their no holds barred depiction of President Trump. But the episodes are taking longer to produce. South Park will now take a further two weeks off before resuming its bi-weekly schedule from October 15 to December 10.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.


via FCC Boss Brendan Carr's Freedom of Speech Under Threat in Delayed South Park Episode
by Wesley Yin-Poole

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