South Park creators court fury after including Prophet Muhammad in no-holds-barred 200th episode

By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 3:54 PM on 15th April 2010 The Daily Mail

Cartoon South Park is courting controversy after daring to draw the Prophet Muhammad in a no-holds-barred 200th episode.
The creators of the irreverent show have mixed some of the most litigious celebrities in showbusiness with one of the most incendiary topics of modern times.
In the anniversary episode, the stars of the show again poke fun at Hollywood star Tom Cruise, who teams up with a group of other celebrities parodied in the show - including Bono, Tiger Woods and Paris Hilton - to plot their revenge.

South Park

Controversy: The 200th episode of popular U.S. show South Park could cause outrage among Muslim as it features the Prophet Muhammad

They demand that the town of South Park bring him the Prophet Muhammad - but they balk at the request due to the real-life controversy of drawing the religious figure.
Cruise is set on 'harvesting' this supposed immunity to ridicule to prevent himself being parodied.
But a tug-of-war ensues between the celebrities and an association of redheaded children after the children in South Park - Kyle, Kenny, Cartman and Stan - 'track down' a version of the Prophet Muhammad.
A frustrated Cruise then recreates his infamous couch-jumping on the Oprah Winfrey Show in 2005 by angrily bouncing on a couch next to a cartoon of the talk show host.
The show also includes a fire-breathing robotic Godzilla version of Barbara Streisand - called Mecha-Streisand.

Prophet Mohammad riot

Outrage: Protesters climb over the gate at the Danish embassy in Tehran during violent riots after newspapers published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad

South Park has previously ridiculed the Hollywood actor in a 2005 episode.
But depictions of the Prophet Muhammad are seen as blasphemous and offensive by Muslims.
The issue came to the fore in 2005 and 2007 when European newspapers published cartoons featuring the religious leader.
The cartoonists behind the series of drawings faced death threats, the Danish embassy in Syria was burned down in 2006 and there were global protests and calls to boycott Danish products.
Danish newspapers apologised for reprinting the pictures earlier this year and members of an alleged plot to kill one of the cartoonists have appeared in court.

Print this article