Digital Phablet – Stephen Colbert reports feeling more comfortable after the season premiere of South Park’s 27th season caused a stir with its satire targeting Donald Trump and the parent company, Paramount.
CBS suddenly canceled the Thursday airing of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The comedian, who has won ten Emmy Awards, joked about the naked deepfake portrayal of Trump on the Comedy Central show, which recently signed orders to ease AI regulations.
During his opening remarks, Colbert said, “And I wholeheartedly agree with this point.” He added, “If governmental agencies step into private AI development, South Park might be prohibited from producing impactful videos like this. That message offers hope.”
He shared a QR code linking to HeTrumpedUs.com, which directs viewers to the scene, stating, “This is a hopeful message for our current times. You can check it out here.” After the much-anticipated season debut episode titled “Sermon on the Mount,” Colbert voiced his criticism. The episode concludes with a lawyer informing the townsfolk they’ll owe the litigious president $3.5 million and must record a PSA featuring pro-Trump messages.
In 2022, co-creator Matt Stone mentioned that Deep Fake: The Movie was “kind of on hold.” Trey Parker explained to the Los Angeles Times that the film centered around “a guy who looks exactly like Trump because we deepfaked Trump’s face onto him.” The humor stemmed from Trump ending up naked and being scolded, making the parody both timely and amusing.
The PSA ends with the line, “Trump: His penis is teeny tiny, but his love for us is big.” The episode was unreserved in addressing Paramount’s recent dealings with Trump, just hours after Parker and Stone signed a new five-year deal with Paramount Global through their company, Park County.
Throughout the episode, Trump’s past comments about his own masculinity appeared, and there were bizarre scenes involving Satan, including attempts at sexual advances. Critics have also questioned the president’s actions, such as ending NPR, and some argue he’s not on the Epstein list despite having been out of office twice.
Furthermore, Paramount faces criticism for ending The Late Show just after settling a $16 million lawsuit with Trump, a move some lawmakers interpret as potential bribery. Due to Colbert’s satire targeting Trump, the former president has expressed happiness over the show’s cancellation.
