Warning: There are spoilers for the South Park episode 'Band in China' below
The Chinese government has seemingly made the decision to remove all references to South Park from the country's heavily censored internet after controversial episode 'Band in China'.
Makers of the show have clearly not been respecting the Chinese authoritahhh, and the latest episode, if the title is anything to go by, may or may not have set out with the intention of being banned in China.
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The episode aired on Comedy Central and it basically ripped into Hollywood filmmakers for trying to avoid Chinese censors. But China got one over them by completely cancelling South Park, removing any trace of them from all the state internet providers and streaming services.
Only the second episode in to season 23, and they've already caused havoc. The storyline shows Randy trying to smuggle weed into the country as a new business venture and ended up working in a Chinese work camp, alongside Winnie the Pooh. The Disney character is sometimes compared to China President Xi Jinping, resulting in the character being censored in the country.
The other storyline that runs alongside it shows Stan, Jimmy, Kenny and Butters and the return of their band 'Fingerbang'. On the cusp of having a movie made about them, Chinese censors keep trying to water their script down.
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Stan declares: "Now I know how Hollywood writers feel," after he's forced to go through with the changes. Anyone who knows South Park will be aware they're not easily silenced, the lads even take a swipe at Disney. Mickey Mouse is depicted as a supporter of the censorship, but ultimately Stan abandons the whole project so as not to give in to the Chinese rules.
According to InkStone News, by today (7 October), all reviews for any of South Park's 23 seasons have been removed from the popular Chinese review site Douban. Searches in both English and Chinese on the country's version of Facebook - Weibo - come back with no results.
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The South Park page Baidu Tieba also suspended their South Park page. It's been replaced with the message: "According to the relevant law and regulation, this section is temporarily not open."
The country's streaming service Youku has removed links to South Park clips, episodes and also full seasons, while a WeChat page that specialises in South Park wrote in a post that it wouldn't be linking to the new episodes anymore.
South Park's creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have since released a totally sincere apology, asking for forgiveness from the Chinese government.
That should do it, guys.
Featured Image Credit: Comedy CentralTopics: TV and Film
