South Park renames to South America in satire targeting Donald Trump and tech firms

Satirical rebrand for season 29

Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of the animated comedy series South Park, announced on Tuesday, 8 September 2026, that the show will change its title to South America. The announcement preceded the scheduled broadcast of season 29, which premieres on Comedy Central on 16 September 2026 at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time before streaming on Paramount+ the following day across the United States, Canada, and Australia. The series, which first aired in 1997 and follows a group of school children in Colorado, framed the rebrand as an official adjustment. Parker and Stone released a joint statement outlining their rationale for the new title.

Inspired by the bravery and patriotism of Apple and Google, we are changing the name of South Park to SOUTH AMERICA. We especially want to thank our parent company Paramount -- a Skydance Capitulation.

Trump geographic directives and corporate compliance

The satirical title directly references a series of geographic renaming initiatives advanced by President Donald Trump during his second term. In January 2025, Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, drawing formal objections from Mexican officials. In late August 2026, during a trade dispute involving tariffs with Canada, the administration issued another directive relabeling Lake Ontario as Lake America, a measure Canadian authorities contested. Both Apple and Google subsequently updated their digital map applications for United States users to display the administration's chosen names. On 6 September 2026, Trump shared an artificial intelligence video on Truth Social altering a highway welcome sign to read New America instead of New Mexico, though the federal government lacks constitutional authority to alter state names.

Corporate ties and media merger fallout

In their statement, Parker and Stone also directed criticism at their own corporate distributor, Paramount. The studio is controlled by David Ellison following the approval of an 111 billion dollar merger between Skydance and Warner Bros Discovery. Ellison maintains close ties to the Trump administration, a connection that drew criticism from figures across the entertainment industry during the merger review process. The creators characterized Paramount's management as capitulating to Skydance ownership in their social media release. The announcement followed the Creative Arts Emmy Awards on 6 September 2026, where the series won Outstanding Animated Program. The production team marked the award on Monday by publishing an animated illustration of Trump holding the Emmy statuette with his trousers around his ankles.

Sustained White House satire

The naming dispute represents the latest development in a prolonged satirical campaign against the administration. Over recent seasons, South Park has repeatedly lampooned the president, depicting him in a romantic partnership with Satan, portraying Vice President JD Vance as Tattoo from Fantasy Island, and characterizing former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem as a dog killer. Previous episodes also mocked corporate executives, showing former Apple chief executive Tim Cook and foreign leaders delivering expensive gifts to the White House to appease Trump. In addition to North American bodies of water, Trump suggested renaming the Strait of Hormuz to the Trump Strait during military actions in Iran involving the United States and Israel. Democrats criticized the renaming efforts as public relations distractions from rising consumer prices and foreign conflicts.