An attorney representing South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone (The Book of Mormon, Team America: World Police) has accused a media executive of interfering with negotiations for a potential renewal of the long-running animated satire’s exclusivity deal with Warner Bros. Discovery, according to a statement by The Hollywood Reporter. The allegation represents the latest complication in an expensive and exasperating power struggle between Warner Bros. and Paramount over control of South Park dating back as far as 2019.

The current so-called “streaming wars” for South Park began in 2019, when HBO Max struck a lucrative exclusivity deal for streaming rights with South Park Digital Studios, which represents the combined interests of creators Parker and Stone as well as Viacom, who owns the Comedy Central channel new episodes premiere on (via Variety). The deal allowed users of HBO Max to stream all episodes from the first twenty-three seasons of the series, as well as exclusive access to all episodes from the then-upcoming Seasons 24, 25, and 26 the day after their Comedy Central debut. The deal was estimated to have cost parent company WarnerMedia at least half a billion dollars.

The same year, however, Viacom would undergo a merger with CBS, placing the rights to Comedy Central — and therefore, South Park — in the hands of the newly-formed ViacomCBS, which would later rebrand as Paramount Global, according to CBS News. Then, in 2021, Viacom struck their own deal with Parker and Stone, offering $900 million in exchange for biannual releases of South Park television specials on their own streaming service Paramount+, announced via Deadline. Paramount Global proffered that since the new South Park content being created for Paramount + consisted of specials and not traditional 22-minute episodes, the deal did not violate the terms of South Park Digital Studio’s 2019 exclusivity agreement. Warner Bros. rejected Paramount’s claim by filing a lawsuit against them in 2023, setting the stage for a high-stakes legal battle whenever the matter eventually makes it to trial. Regardless, the issue has quickly spiraled into a nightmare for everyone involved, including South Park megafans.

While the “streaming wars” have been raging, though, Warner Bros. Discovery’s 2019 deal is set to expire on June 30th, which has prompted Trey Parker and Matt Stone to shop around once again for the rights to South Park. According to a statement from the pair’s attorney obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, Redbird Capital executive Jeff Shell has urged both Warner Bros. Discovery and Netflix to alter their offers for the series in a “manner calculated to benefit Paramount at the expense” of Parker and Stone. Alleged modifications encouraged by Shell include granting Pramount+ one-year exclusivity for all subsequent episodes of South Park and shortening a bidder’s potential lease from ten years to five. “We hereby demand that you, Redbird, and Skydance immediately cease your interference,” the attorney writes. “If these activities continue, we will have no choice but to act to both protect our rights and discharge any obligations we may have to the public.”

Although not officially affiliated with Paramount, Shell is slated to become President of the company if its previously announced merger with Skydance is allowed to continue, says The Hollywood Reporter. The role would mark Shell’s return to the television industry after he was fired from his role of Chief Executive at NBCUniversal in 2023 over alleged sexual misconduct, as reported by Reuters.

A representative for Skydance responded to the claim, stating that “under the terms of the transaction agreement, Skydance has the right to approve material contracts,” once again courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter.

For the time being, South Park fans can watch seasons one through twenty-six of the original series on HBO Max, and view the series’ eight released special events on Paramount+.