Warner Bros. Discovery Files Lawsuit Against Paramount Over South Park Streaming Rights

In a rare case of Warner Bros. Discovery trying to add content to HBO Max, the company has filed a lawsuit against Paramount Global regarding the streaming rights of Comedy Central’s “South Park.” The case was filed Friday in the New York State Supreme Court, according to a report from Variety.

The suit accuses Paramount Global, which owns both Comedy Central and “South Park,” of breaking terms in a 2019 licensing deal between the two corporations regarding the streaming rights of Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s long-running satirical animated series.

The $500-million deal put the entirety of “South Park,” currently in its 26th season and with over 300 episodes in its library, exclusively on HBO Max. The suit alleges that several Paramount Plus exclusive “South Park” specials — beginning with 2021’s “Post Covid” — break the terms of the licensing deal.

“We believe that Paramount and South Park Digital Studios embarked on a multi-year scheme of unfair trade practices and deception, flagrantly and repeatedly breaching our contract, which clearly gave HBO Max exclusive streaming rights to the existing library and new content from the popular animated comedy South Park,” a representative of HBO Max said in a statement to IndieWire.

“Warner/HBO brings this lawsuit to vindicate its rights and recover the hundreds of millions of dollars in damages incurred as a result of Defendants’ misconduct,” the suit states.

IndieWire has reached out to representatives from Paramount for comment.

More to come…

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