South Park writer reveals ‘worst joke they ever told’ and it’s a shocker
'It was the most misogynistic frat boy joke.'
A South Park creator has vowed to ‘reclaim’ what she has deemed as the long-running US cartoon’s most controversial joke.
Pam Brady, who worked on the adult comedy show from its debut in 1997 for two years, described it as the ‘worst’ gag she wrote during her tenure.
Speaking to Fox News Digital at SXSW Festival, she continued: ‘It was based on an old frat joke. One character said, “I don’t trust anything that bleeds for five days and doesn’t die.”
‘I remember it was just like the most misogynistic frat boy joke that I’d heard of at that point – but we’re reclaiming it.’
The joke was said by 4th grade teacher Mr Garrison to his students, including Cartman and Kenny, in the 1999 film South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut.
South Park notoriously fans the flames of controversy on a regular basis, angering the highest echelons of Hollywood over the years, from Barbra Streisand to Tom Cruise.
Pam was a writer on South Park for two years (Picture: Nicola Gell/Getty Images)The Funny Girl star, 82, said she laughed at her portrayal as a huge, dinosaur-like version of herself in episode Mecha-Streisand but was concerned it exacerbated ‘cynicism and negativity’ in society.
She told Mirabella: ‘I wasn’t even aware of this show until I read in Time magazine that they had used me in a very negative way.
‘Let me say that I enjoy satire and parody and I loved the movie In & Out. It made me laugh. It wasn’t mean-spirited.
‘But I wonder if shows like South Park and Beavis and Butt-head don’t add to the cynicism and negativity in our culture, especially in children.’
Mission Impossible star Tom, 62, reportedly threatened to sue South Park after becoming perturbed by criticism of The Church Of Scientology – as well as a parody of him which saw him quite literally hiding in a closet – in the season nine episode Trapped in the Closet.
Mr Garrison makes the ‘worst’ joke aimed at women (Picture: Comedy Central/Everett/REX/Shutterstock)Even people from the South Park cast have hit out at the show in the past, with actor and Chef voice artist Isaac Hayes criticising and subsequently leaving the programme because of its depiction of Scientology.
After the Trapped in the Closet episode aired back in 2005, the late actor requested to be let out of his contract, citing ‘intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs’.
‘There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends, and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins,’ he said in a statement, according to The Guardian.
‘As a civil rights activist of the past 40 years, I cannot support a show that disrespects those beliefs and practices.’
However, South Park has also had a more positive impact on viewers, with stoners vowing to turn over a new leaf after an episode about the dangers of drug use.
Several celebrities have taken issue with their portrayal in South Park (Picture: Comedy Central/Everett/REX/Shutterstock)In 2022 episode, My Future Self ‘n’ Me, Randy speaks to Stan about smoking pot and says: ‘Pot makes you fine with being bored, and it’s when you’re bored that you should be learning some new skill or discovering some new science or being creative.’
This heartfelt scene between Randy and Stan impacted viewers, who took to Reddit. In a recent thread entitled ‘I didn’t want to come to terms with this but Randy is right’, many people regaled stories of how the dialogue in the animated series makes complete sense.
‘This is the speech we should have got as kids,’ wrote account SharpenedShovel.
DaemonDrayke agreed: ‘I feel like this is a more impactful statement about why young people should not use marijuana or other recreational drugs than Mcgruff the crime dog or the half dozen half-baked anti drug ads.’
South Park is available to stream on Paramount Plus.
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