Comedy Central has pulled the South Park episode “Got a Nut” from its regular rotation following the death of Charlie Kirk, the right-wing political influencer who was parodied in the show.
The episode, which originally aired on August 6th, featured scenes where character Clyde Donovan adopts Kirk’s controversial ideologies and mannerisms.
The episode saw Donovan hosting a podcast and receiving “The Charlie Kirk Award for Young Masterdebaters” after winning a debate contest. During his acceptance speech, the character delivers provocative statements including, “Thanks, everyone. The Civil Rights Act was a huge mistake, and, I don’t know, lesbians are an abomination of God.”
Kirk himself had responded to the South Park parody on his own podcast, The Charlie Kirk Show, demonstrating a surprisingly measured reaction. “For those that don’t understand, South Park is very popular… it has a lot of cultural power,” he said. “Obviously, they’re very nasty towards conservatives, they were very nasty towards President Trump in the prior episode. But I personally think a lot of it was hilarious towards me. I gotta be honest. Some of it was very funny and I don’t think we should have too thin of skin.”
The 31-year-old Kirk was fatally shot on Wednesday while speaking to students at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, during an event on Turning Point USA’s American Comeback Tour. He was shot in the neck by an unidentified assailant while seated at a table beneath a pavilion displaying a “Prove Me Wrong” sign.
The South Park episode directly referenced this signature debate format, with the Clyde Donovan character hosting a similar setup outside a school. “It looks like a lot of whiny babies have a problem with what I say, so prove me wrong,” the animated character declares.
Following the episode’s initial broadcast, Kirk had capitalised on the attention by selling “Master Debater” shirts through his website, with proceeds supporting his Turning Point USA fall campus tour. The merchandise has since been removed from the online store.
Comedy Central confirmed to Rolling Stone that while the episode has been withdrawn from linear television rotation, it remains accessible on Paramount+ and Comedy Central on Demand streaming services.
