South Park Trolls Trump's Renaming Craze With 'South America' Rebrand Stunt

Trey Parker and Matt Stone announced a mock name change for their animated series ahead of Season 29, rebranding it 'South America' in a satirical dig at both the Trump administration's geographic renaming obsession and the major tech companies that have complied with it. The statement specifically called out Apple and Google for their 'bravery and patriotism' in updating their maps to reflect names like 'Gulf of America' and 'Lake America' — the latter following Trump's executive order renaming Lake Ontario amid an ongoing trade dispute with Canada.

The announcement also took aim at parent company Paramount, which Parker and Stone dubbed 'a Skydance Capitulation' — a reference to Paramount paying $16 million to settle a Trump lawsuit over a 60 Minutes interview and agreeing to dismantle its DEI program during its merger with Skydance Media. The jab illustrates the duo's willingness to bite the hand that feeds them as aggressively as they bite everyone else.

The stunt lands just days after South Park won its sixth Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program — its first in over a decade — for a season that featured Trump in a romantic relationship with Satan and JD Vance portrayed as Tattoo from Fantasy Island. The show trolled Trump's long-running Emmy grievance over The Apprentice by posting a cartoon image of him holding the award with the caption 'You finally got your Emmy.' The White House had previously dismissed the show as 'irrelevant for 20 years.'

Meanwhile, MapQuest surged to the top of Apple's U.S. App Store charts this week after publicly refusing to rename Lake Ontario 'Lake America,' offering a real-world counterpoint to the corporate capitulation Parker and Stone were lampooning. Trump has also threatened to rename New Mexico 'New America,' though he has no legal authority to rename any U.S. state. Season 29 premieres September 16 on Comedy Central.