“South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have threatened legal action against incoming Paramount president Jeff Shell for interfering in negotiations for the streaming rights of the animated series.
Parker and Stone, who operate South Park Digital Studios — which owns the show’s streaming rights — alongside Paramount Global, have accused Shell, the RedBird Capital executive who is set to become the next president of Paramount should the deal with Skydance close, of steering negotiations with potential streaming partners Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery to benefit Paramount.
In a June 21 letter obtained by TheWrap, counsel for Parker and Stone’s entertainment company, Park County, accused Shell of directing Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery to modify their deals in a “manner calculated to benefit Paramount at the expense” of Park County. Specifically, the letter alleged that Shell asked Warner Bros. Discovery to grant Paramount+ an exclusive 12-month window for new episodes, as well as shorten the deal from 10 to five years.
“We hereby demand that you, Redbird, and Skydance immediately cease your interference,” the letter reads. “If these activities continue, we will have no choice but to act to both protect our rights and discharge any obligations we may have to the public.”
A rep for Redbird and Skydance maintained that Shell did nothing wrong, saying in a statement to TheWrap: “Under the terms of the transaction agreement Skydance has the right to approve material contracts.”
But Park County said with the merger between Paramount Global and Skydance not yet closed, Skydance is not legally entitled to be involved in such negotiations, leading the copany to note in the letter that Shell “had no right or authority to be demanding that SPDS’s prospective counterparties make modifications to their proposals, especially modifications that would depress the value of their proposals.”
The Hollywood Reporter first reported the news.
