Celebs Who Were Destroyed By South Park

The following article includes references to body-shaming, homophobia, racism, and sexism.

For a sleepy little town in Colorado, South Park and its humble folks without temptation have seen an inordinate number of celebrities visit over the years. When the show premiered in 1997, the first visitors on "South Park" were of the extraterrestrial variety, but it wasn’t long before creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone began using their platform to roast the rich and famous on the reg. From A-list stars with sparkling reps such as Tom Hanks to unsavory Z-listers like imprisoned former Subway pitchman Jared Fogle, no one is off-limits.

While Parker and Stone lampoon everyone and everything with their crass satirical social commentary, they’re especially contemptuous of Hollywood, succinctly encapsulating their views on celebrities in a 2006 interview with Esquire. "Having to sit there and listen to George Bush do and say a bunch of stupid s*** while he was bombing Iraq was no more offensive to me than watching Alec Baldwin go on TV and say, ‘Let me tell you what this war’s about,’" Parker said.

Parker and Stone took their cynical schtick to the extreme by explaining to Spin why they didn’t vote in the 2004 presidential election. "We didn’t believe we had to choose between a turd sandwich and a giant douche," said Parker, referencing the "South Park" episode where school mascot voters were actually presented with this choice. But while Parker and Stone may promote the idea that everyone is equally terrible, some of their celebrity targets have gotten it far worse than others.

South Park couldn’t smoosh Snooki’s spirit

Proving that it always keeps a finger on the pulse of the pop culture zeitgeist, "South Park" gave that finger a tangerine tan and leopard-print manicure for the 2010 episode "It’s a Jersey Thing." Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi also got a makeover when she and the rest of the cast of the MTV series "Jersey Shore" were savagely satirized. Per the Daily Beast, Snooki once described herself as thus: "Honestly, who hides in a bush? Only me. I will pee in a bush, I will poop in a bush, and I will hide in a bush."

So the "South Park" writers had their work cut out for them in finding a way to parody her that was even more outlandish than her antics on the popular reality show. Their solution? Take away her ability to deliver amusing one-liners and reduce her vocabulary to the words "Snooki want smoosh-smoosh," which is a term for having intercourse that the "Jersey Shore" cast actually used on the show. Snooki was also depicted as an orange, rodent-like creature that likely would spend a lot of time hiding in a bush. She did, however, get to keep her signature hair pouf, fuzzy frog slippers, and garish gold jewelry.

While her portrayal wasn’t exactly flattering, the reality show star was able to laugh about it. "Snooki want smoosh smoosh. im going to have nightmares tonight lmao!!! we’ve officially made it. goodnite my b***hes," she tweeted alongside a red heart emoji.

Kanye West wasn’t in on the joke

"South Park" deployed one of its favorite tropes, casual homophobic jokes, in the 2009 episode "Fishsticks." Aspiring comedian Jimmy discovered a way to work a mondegreen into his stand-up routine by asking the question, "Do you like fish d**ks?" knowing that this would be misheard as "Do you like fishsticks?" Upon receiving an affirmative answer and a reaffirmation, he would then deliver the punchline: "What are you, a gay fish?"

The joke became a nationwide sensation on the show, but there was one person who didn’t get it: an animated Kanye West. The frustrated rapper became convinced that people were calling him a gay fish. By the end of the episode, he’d decided to accept this label, leaping into the sea and recording an auto-tune ode about his bizarre journey. The real-life West reacted to the episode on his blog, writing in part (in all caps), "’South Park’ murdered me last night and it’s pretty funny. It hurts my feelings but what can you expect from ‘South Park’! I actually have been working on my ego though. Having the crazy ego is played out at this point in my life and career."

Trey Parker and Matt Stone told HuffPost that the response made them feel a bit guilty about going after the rapper so hard because they were expecting Ye to lash out in anger. However, the musician wasn’t quite as introspective in his 2010 song "Gorgeous" when he rapped, "Choke a ‘South Park’ writer with a fishstick."