Comedy Central has reportedly pulled a controversial South Park episode mocking Charlie Kirk following his death yesterday (10 September).
The conservative activist, 31, was shot in the neck 20 minutes into a Q&A session at Utah Valley University, where he'd been speaking to 3,000 people as part of his tour named 'The American Comeback Tour'.
Members of the podcaster's security team drove him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead, with President Donald Trump later confirming his passing on his social media platform, Truth Social.
His final words came while answering a question about 'how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years'.
Advert
Following the incident, which Trump referred to as 'a dark moment for America', it has been reported that Comedy Central has removed the South Park episode titled 'Got a Nut'.
The season 27 episode, which originally aired on 6 August, sees fan favourite character Eric Cartman imitate Kirk's mannerisms by the way he runs a podcast.
One storyline involves Clyde Donovan rising as a provocative right-wing podcaster, expressing misogynistic, antisemitic and racist views to get reactions.
Cartman is convinced that Clyde has stolen his thunder and tries to outdo him by launching his own 'masterdebate' style show, parodying real-life debates. There's also a contest called the 'Charlie Kirk Award for Young Masterdebater(s)'.
Advert
Before the episode aired, Kirk said to Fox News that the episode was a 'badge of honour', as he said: "I think it's kind of funny and it kind of goes to show the cultural impact and the resonance that our movement has been able to achieve."
The New York Post reports that episodes 1-4 were scheduled for reruns; however, the network has replaced 'Got a Nut' with the first episode. They also said that the network has not issued a public statement, but had told industry outlets that the episode was 'temporarily pulled' from their cable rotation.
Although the episode was removed from American cable, NDTV further reports that it is still available to stream on Paramount+.
It comes after the FBI said in an update that they have obtained footage of the male suspect who 'appears to be of college age'.
Advert
FBI agent Robert Bohls announced at the press conference today (11 September) that they have also found the shooter's gun.
"I can tell you that we have recovered what we believe is the weapon to be that was used in yesterday's shooting is a high-powered bolt action rifle," he said. "That rifle was recovered in a wooded area where the shooter had fled. The FBI laboratory will be analysing this weapon."
Beau Mason, the commissioner of the Utah Department of Public Safety, added: "We were able to track the movements of the shooter starting at 11:52 am.
"This subject arrived on campus shortly away from campus. We have tracked his movements onto the campus through the stairwells, up to the roof, across the roof, to a shooting location.
"After the shooting, we were able to track his movements as he moved to the other side of the building, jumped off of the building and fled, off of the campus and into a neighbourhood."
Advert
LADbible has contacted Comedy Central and Paramount+ for comment.
Topics: Charlie Kirk, Donald Trump, South Park, Politics
Anish Vij