7 South Park predictions that came true

For nearly three decades, South Park has been a dark comedy spectacle that is a jarring reflection of the social, cultural, and political climate. Creators and showrunners Trey Parker and Matt Stone have pushed the boundaries of the animation world, often stepping into murky territory to make a point. This polarizing nature of the show led to some unsettling predictions coming true over the years.

After five Primetime Emmys and a Peabody Award, the Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman saga has been cemented as a timeless classic. However, even the most hardened fans have been spooked by the timely coincidences and predictions in South Park, from the paparazzi hounding Miley Cyrus to Mel Gibson's shocking fall from grace. But that's what makes the show such a power-packed entertainer.

Disclaimer: All opinions in this article belong to the writer. Spoilers and sensitive content ahead.

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Paparazzi and Miley Cyrus, Mel Gibson's mental health breakdown, and other predictions in South Park that came true

1) Miley Cyrus became the new Britney Spears

Season 12, episode 2, "Britney's New Look"

Britney Spears performs with half a head (Image via YouTube/South Park Studios)

For years, Britney Spears's astronomical fame and tragic fall after a mental health crisis made her a paparazzi prize, putting an end to her privacy and driving her to isolation. This South Park episode takes on her dark reality. The quartet jumps on the paparazzi train, only for her to attempt to end her own life, be revived with half a head, and then stalked and hounded until she dies from all the camera flashes.

Britney's death is counted as a "harvest", AKA a woman being sacrificed for public enjoyment. By the end of the episode, Miley Cyrus is shown on TV, and Randy casually remarks that the next harvest will be even better. This came true in reality in the 2010s, when Miley became the target of slander after her gear shift from Hannah Montana. She took Britney's place, just like South Park predicted.

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2) Actor Mel Gibson's derailment

Season 8, episode 3, "The Passion of the Jew"

Kyle's Jewish heritage is made fun of (Image via YouTube/South Park Studios)

In the wake of Mel Gibson's controversial movie, The Passion of the Christ, South Park created a premise that directly attacked Kyle's Jewish heritage. Kyle has a crisis of faith after watching the movie, where the Jews are portrayed as the cause of Christ's death, while Cartman puts together a Neo-N*zi cult that worships Gibson. Stan and Kenny hate the movie and hunt the actor down for a refund.

As things escalate into an anti-Jew hate train, Gibson is discovered to be a religious extremist. After he defecates on Cartman's face and dissolves into insanity, they snap out of their predicament. In reality, the actor was arrested for a DUI two years after the episode. He made an anti-semitic statement that chillingly coincided with his South Park depiction and confirmed his true personality.

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3) Osama Bin Laden's death

Season 14, episode 9, "It's a Jersey Thing"

Randy asks a terrorist for help (Image via YouTube/Comedy Central)

The main plot of this South Park episode is about New Jersey residents forming a coup and taking over the USA, including the titular town. However, a more subtle sub-plot revolves around Randy sending a video to the terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden for help. He and his organization, Al-Qaeda, arrive to drive the Jersey-ites out, and Special Forces arrive to shoot Bin Laden in the head.

While Bin Laden's death and resurrection bit was a running gag on the show, this was the final time he appeared on the show, marking his ultimate demise. A year after the episode aired, the United States Navy SEALs successfully completed a mission where they infiltrated his compound and killed him. The manner of death? A gunshot wound to the head.

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4) The Christopher Columbus-Dr. Seuss costume debacle

Season 21, episode 3, "The Holiday Special"

Randy opposes Columbus Day and his statue (Image via YouTube/South Park Studios)

Randy vehemently opposes the celebration of Columbus Day, tearing down the man's statues and harassing people living in Columbus, Ohio. This cancels a holiday that the school looked forward to, causing uproar from parents and kids alike. The situation goes from bad to hilariously worse when Stan and Kyle find pictures of Randy proudly dressed as Columbus in the past.

An uncanny incident happened after the South Park episode aired in September 2017. The communications team of First Lady Melania Trump criticized Liz Phipps Soeiro, a librarian in a Massachusetts school, for rejecting her donation of Dr. Seuss books, for being “clichéd” and full of “racist propaganda.” However, photos of the same librarian dressed as "The Cat in the Hat" were revealed afterwards.

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5) The curious case of the 'Poop Cruise'

Season 14, episode 14, "Crème Fraiche"

The episode features Randy's cooking obsession (Image via YouTube/South Park Studios)

From time to time, South Park throws a joke in the background, but fans quickly notice it. One such joke was written into a news show in this episode, where Randy gets obsessed with cooking shows, and Sharon finds solace in weight reduction equipment, both laced with sexual innuendo. But in one of the scenes, a news show reports about passengers on a Carnival Cruise Line smelling like poop.

Coincidentally, three years later, in 2013, the worst fears of 3000 cruise passengers aboard Carnival Cruise Line's Triumph ship came true. A fire broke out on board and disabled the plumbing and electricity for days, leaving the passengers without functioning toilets. This earned them the nickname "Poop Cruise", similar to the show's off-handed joke.

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6) Ricky Martin's sexuality prediction

Season 3, episode 8, "Two Guys Naked In a Hot Tub"

Randy and Gerald's hot tub moment (Image via YouTube/Paramount+)

Mr. Mackey's meteor shower party takes a sexual turn when Randy and Gerald share an intimate moment in the hot tub. This sends Randy into a shame spiral about his sexuality. When he sees people whispering, he is convinced his one-night thing with Gerald is the hot topic.

But it turns out to be about singer Ricky Martin's homosexuality. The guys console Randy, confirming that what he did was normal and that they've also done it. Again, this is a throwaway joke in South Park, but the singer publicly came out as gay over a decade later, in 2010, continuing the show's prediction success.

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7) Elon Musk and Mars

Season 20, episode 8, "Members Only"

Cartman and Heidi dream of going to Mars (Image via YouTube/South Park Studios)

Cartman and his girlfriend, Heidi Turner, are sick of social media and the slew of internet trolls, and decide to leave Earth once and for all. They go to Elon Musk's SpaceX office and speak to the receptionist about going to Mars because the WiFi is "sh*tty." Musk tells them he hasn't yet cracked a way to travel to Mars.

In 2017, a year after the episode's planet-hopping joke, Elon Musk outlined his plan to send a rocket to Mars in 2019. While the tests are still on, the billionaire is confident that there could be people on Mars as early as 2030, according to an article by USA Today published on August 21, 2025.

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