'South Park' Banned In China After This Controversial Episode Offends Government

"South Park" has been known to cause controversy since it first premiered in 1997. However, now it appears that the popular animated television show has been banned in China due to the content of a specific episode.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, following the release of the new show titled "Band in China," creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone will no longer be able to have their work shown in the country.

In the installment, one of the storylines revolves around Randy "getting caught attempting to sell weed in China and getting sent to a work camp." Another part of the plot "follows Stan, Jimmy, Kenny, and Butters forming a metal band" but quickly learning that they will have to adjust their work in order for it to be distributed in the region.

This newest episode is said to be taking aim at the way Hollywood shapes its content to "avoid offending Chinese govnerment censors in any way whatsoever."

In this instance, life truly does imitate art as it prompted those in power to delete nearly every clip, online discussion, and episode of the Comedy Central show from Chinese streaming services, fan pages, and social media accounts. Per the Hollywood Reporter, "all links to clips, episodes and even full seasons of the show are now dead."

Along those same lines, if users manually enter the URL for what used to be a South Park thread, they will be met with a message that reads, "According to the relevant law and regulation, this section is temporarily not open." The Chinese movie review site Douban, social media site Weibo, and online community Baidu Tieba have all suspended "South Park" content, reports IndieWire.

Aside from the new Chinese ban, the show was recently renewed for three more seasons. The 23rd season, which premiered on Sept. 25, will also allow the show to hit their 300th episode. It remains to be seen if Parker and Stone will face any other bans moving forward, but they are very likely to continue producing the controversial material that their fans have grown to love.

"South Park" airs Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. on Comedy Central.