A South Park episode making fun of right-wing activist and Donald Trump ally Charlie Kirk, who was shot dead this week while speaking at a US event, has been pulled from Comedy Central but remains on Paramount+.
Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s long-running animated sitcom regularly lampoons leading figures including US President Trump.
The episode, titled Got a Nut, premiered on 6 August and finds the character Clyde Donovan espousing offensive views on a podcast. He then sets up a table at South Park Elementary school to in order to “destroy woke liberal students”, inviting his classmates to grab the microphone and prove him wrong.
Kirk was killed at the age of 31 while hosting a college event for Turning Point USA, the organisation he co-founded, in what police are calling a targeted shooting.
Kirk had been speaking with students at Utah Valley University in Orem on Wednesday, as part of his American Comeback tour, when he was killed.
The FBI has released new footage showing the person suspected of killing him running across a roof – from where the fatal shot was fired – before dropping to the ground and crossing a road.
Last month, South Park co-creator Parker made headlines with a short joke apology to Trump for having ridiculed him in the opening show of their 27th season.
The episode made several crude jokes at the US president’s expense.
After it aired, the White House described South Park as a “fourth-rate” show that was “hanging on by a thread with uninspired ideas in a desperate attempt for attention”.
Asked about the reaction during a panel at Comic-Con International in San Diego, Parker said, with a mock-serious face: “We’re terribly sorry.” – BBC
By Paul Glynn