Undeterred by past failures, Paramount continues screwing up its South Park deal
Adding yet another complication to the never-ending war over South Park’s streaming rights, Park County, the entertainment company owned by South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, has threatened Paramount’s incoming president with a lawsuit. What’s another lawsuit in this complete clusterfuck of a situation that Paramount created by selling the streaming rights to the show to Warner Bros. Discovery in 2019 and then wanting them back for Paramount+? Well, this time, Stone and Parker, through their lawyers and per The Hollywood Reporter, accused Jeff Shell, an executive at RedBird Capital, who would become the president of Paramount if Skydance Media acquires Paramount, of tampering with Stone and Parker’s contract negotiations with WBD and Netflix. Apparently, Shell urged WBD to give Paramount+ a 12-month exclusive on new episodes and to cut its deal from 10 years to five in hopes of bringing down WBD’s bid. In a letter obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, lawyers for Stone and Parker demanded that Shell, Redbird, and Skydance “immediately cease [their] interference.” Meanwhile, Skydance maintains that it has the “right to approve material contracts.”