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

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: