Stars Who Hated Their Portrayals On South Park

Since its premiere in 1997, "South Park" has stayed true to its signature shocking, satirical humor despite the resulting backlash and controversy over the years. Media attention and lawsuits are commonplace for creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who are able to keep each episode topical by implementing a rigorous one-week turn-around schedule for each episode. This model of work has made "South Park" Comedy Central's most successful, longest-running show, with Paramount+ renewing the series through Season 30.

When it comes to social critiques and mockery, nothing is off-limits, especially hypersensitive topics, including religion, politics, and cultural events. One way the show pushes boundaries on taboo subject matter is by depicting public figures in surreal, unflattering ways and satirical parodies of celebrities have become a celebrated motif for "South Park." Everyone from Martha Stewart and her unconventional Thanksgiving turkey recipe to Dick Chaney and his hunting "accident" has been targeted with taunting and criticism. Some have even volunteered to lend their voices in guest-star appearances, such as Jay Leno and Cheech & Chong, but not everyone shares the same crude sense of humor. So let's go on down to South Park and have ourselves a time with the stars who hated their portrayals on the show.

By this point in their careers, Parker and Stone have become unfazed by entitled celebrities and their baseless threats of lawsuits. But in 2005, they almost met their match when they went toe to toe with Tom Cruise and the Scientology community. Cruise is widely known for being a member and advocate for the controversial church, so it was only natural for "South Park" to satirize the ordeal in Season 9, Episode 12, "Trapped in the Closet."

In this episode, Cruise shows up at Stan's house, believing he's the reincarnation of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. When Stan admits to enjoying other movies over Cruise's, the actor locks himself in the boy's closet and refuses to come out. Ultimately, Stan tries to expose the church for being a scam, but the members respond in outrage, with the president of Scientology and Cruise threatening to sue the boy. The show's end credits were all changed to John and Jane Smith presumably to avoid legal action.

No one was ever sued, however, Cruise and the group made their disdain known. Cruise was alleged to have blocked the episode from reairing in March of 2006 by threatening not to participate in the promotion of Viacom's "Mission: Impossible III." Parker and Stone responded with an official statement: "Scientology, you may have won THIS battle, but the million-year war for Earth has just begun! Temporarily anozinizing our episode will NOT stop us from keeping Thetans forever trapped in your pitiful man-bodies."

It's a mystery as to what Barbra Streisand ever did to Parker and Stone to deserve such harsh treatment in her "South Park" episodes, but it's clear the creative duo have some unfavorable opinions of the singer. In 1998, Streisand was among the first celebrities "South Park" poked fun at. Season 1, Episode 12, "Mecha-Streisand," features a caricature of Streisand, who uses her tortuous singing to retrieve the Triangle of Zinthar found by the boys during a field trip. She then uses the triangle to transform into a giant robotic Mecha-Streisand, who wreaks havoc on South Park.

In a 1998 interview with Mirabella, the real-life Streisand expressed her grievances with the show's negativity and effects on children: "These youngsters are formulating their attitudes and maybe they come away feeling that any woman who dares to accomplish something is the incarnation of self-centeredness and greed. And that would be very unfortunate, especially for young girls."

This, of course, didn't stop Parker and Stone from featuring Streisand again in Season 2, Episode 15, "Spooky Vision," where Streisand's face is repeated in all four corners of the screen. Photos of the singer were also used during scene transitions. Streisand's alter ego Mecha-Streisand returns once again in the famous two-parter, "200" and "201." In it, all 200 celebrities parodied in the show team up in a class action lawsuit against South Park. Mecha-Streisand is eventually taken down by the Super Best Friends group.

"Mama" June Shannon and her daughter, Alana "Honey Boo Boo" Thompson, rose to fame in 2011 when the pair appeared in TLC's "Toddlers & Tiaras." Controversy has followed the family from the beginning, with many criticizing the exploitative nature of child beauty pageants and the family's unhealthy lifestyle. Following the release of their reality show, "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo," Parker and Stone decided to add some commentary of their own with the Season 16 episode, "Raising the Bar." In the episode, Kyle is inspired by June and Honey Boo Boo to profit off of Cartman's obesity with a reality show of their own.

The episode doesn't hold back with its offensive depictions of Honey Boo Boo experiencing heart failure and needing a pig heart transplant. When Honey Boo Boo's show outperforms Cartman's, June encourages her daughter to wrestle Cartman in a pool of spaghetti. "Ain't no one can beat my Boo Boo in s'ghetti wrestling," June declares.

In an interview with TMZ, June made it clear she was not laughing along at the "trashy" portrayal. "Me being a big person, I didn't take offense ... that show is just not a show that I would want to be on in the first place," June expressed. Despite the reality star's disapproval, the episode went on to win an Emmy for outstanding animated program.

Tween sensation boy band, the Jonas Brothers, become key players in Kenny's sexual awakening in Season 13, Episode 1, "The Ring." After discovering his new girlfriend gets turned on by the sight of the trio, Kenny buys tickets for the two of them to see the band live in concert. His girlfriend ends up getting called backstage to meet the brothers, who convince the girls and Kenny to wear purity rings.

During this time, the brothers were known for being outspoken about participating in religious purity culture – a popular phenomenon among Disney Channel stars of this era. When the brothers attempt to distance themselves from their purity ring image, their boss — an aggressive Mickey Mouse — takes forceful action.

In a Reddit AMA, Nick Jonas answered a question asking about his feelings toward the stunt, admitting to originally hating it but eventually warming up to the parody episode. "When it first came out I didn't think it was funny to be honest, but probably because I was actually living all of that in real time and so it just made it harder to come and live your life as a young person and have all that going on. But years later and once the purity rings were no longer around, it was very funny to me and I've actually watched the episode a few times," Jonas wrote.

Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins takes over Mrs. Garrison's class to teach the kids about the science of evolution in the Season 10 episodes, "Go God Go" and "Go God Go XII." Initially against the idea of evolution, Garrison is convinced by Dawkins after the two spark up a romantic relationship. Together, they campaign for worldwide atheism, with Dawkins' mantra being, "Logic and reason aren't enough: You also have to be a d*** to everyone who doesn't think like you." Cartman gets transported to the future of a Godless world on the brink of war and tries to warn his friends in the past. In the process, Dawkins discovers Garrison's sex change procedure and leaves feeling repulsed. This change alters the future, and the war ceases to exist.

In a Reddit AMA, Dawkins gave his opinion on his portrayal, writing, "Satire is supposed to satirise. Depicting somebody as having a predilection for buggering a bald transvestite is not satire and not witty. The futuristic projection of wars between atheist factions is genuine satire and quite witty. I think it's important understand the difference. I preferred the experience of going on The Simpsons." Understanding Parker and Stone's mindset by now, they likely didn't take Dawkins' comments to heart.