Comedy Central pulls South Park episode after Charlie Kirk's death

Comedy Central has pulled a recent episode of its animated series South Park from rotation following the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk.

Kirk, an American conservative influencer and close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, was speaking to a crowd during an event at Utah Valley University when he was shot and killed.

The South Park episode, titled 'Got a Nut', first aired on August 6 . It was scheduled for a rerun on Wednesday night but was pulled from the network's scheduled rotation after Kirk's death. It is still available on streaming platforms.

It featured one of the show's main characters, Eric Cartman, mimicking Kirk's mannerisms and debate style.

On the show, Cartman similarly hosts a right-wing commentary podcast where he engages in heated debates against those who disagree with his political and cultural views.

When the episode first aired, Kirk called it "hilarious" in a TikTok post.

"Part of it is kind of like, whatever, typical humor, but it was hilarious," Kirk said.

"There's gonna be a lot said about this, but we need to have a good spirit about being made fun of, and this is all a success."

However, Kirk's many supporters criticised the show for allegedly targeting conservatives in its parody.

After Kirk’s death, some supporters even blamed the episode for the killing.

"[South Park] do an episode which is basically a hit piece on Charlie Kirk and a couple weeks later he’s murdered," said one user on X, telling the show's creators, "you are sellouts and have blood on your hands."

"Let's blame South Park," said another.

"Blame the media. Blame leftist rhetoric. These people hate you and want to see you dead. If they'll kill Charlie Kirk and piss on his grave, they'll do it to any of us."

Public figures of all political leanings condemned the shooting and denounced all acts of political violence.

Many conservative politicians have accused "leftist rhetoric" of being responsible for the attack including Trump, who blamed the "radical left" for Kirk's death.

However at the time of writing, the suspect and their motives have yet to be identified.