HBO Max is offering the 23 seasons of Comedy Central’s animated series “South Park” on its streaming service, but will not offer five episodes depicting Prophet Muhammad.
The decision to remove them, first reported by Deadline, comes after Hulu took similar steps. The episodes were also removed from the official “South Park” website.
HBO Max authorized “South Park” in 2019 in a deal estimated at more than $ 500 million.
The five episodes in question were not available for broadcast by Comedy Central or South Park Studios in the agreement reached with HBO Max, according to a source familiar with the matter, nor were the five episodes available for any other streaming service, including Hulu.
The news of the deleted episodes comes after HBO Max reintroduced the movie “Gone With the Wind” on Thursday with “multiple historical contexts” surrounding the 1939 film that many see as romantic slavery.
The Oscar-winning image was pulled from the HBO broadcast platform earlier this month after an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times by “12 Years A Slave” writer John Ridley, who called for its removal.
Released on Comedy Central in 1997, the series has been renewed for three more seasons by Comedy Central, owned by ViacomCBS.
South Park was banned in China last year after taunting Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Updated at 3:12 pm
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