South Park writer shares the ‘worst joke ever told’ on controversial cartoon show

Whether you're a fan of South Park or not, you'll be aware of what it's best known for - and that's highly inappropriate jokes.

Think crude, offensive, and just plain wrong, then multiply it by 10.

That's the level we're talking here, but it also shouldn't be forgotten that the show is excellent at tackling current affairs and issues in the world in its episodes in its own unique, comedic way.

The show was created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and has been a mainstay on Comedy Central since its pilot in 1997.

Each episode is usually written and animated in the week leading to its release, allowing it to be just about the most current comedy series on TV for almost 30 years.

However, touching on controversial topics such as Andrew Tate (see above), poking fun at religion, fielding racism jokes and more over the years, can cause those involved in the show to look back and cringe a bit.

I mean, there's a Wikipedia page titled 'South Park controversies' for Pete's sake.

Writer Pam Brady was part of the show for three seasons before moving on to pursue bigger film projects, and despite looking back fondly on her time on the show, she revealed the joke she regretted most.

The foul-mouthed foursome of Eric, Kyle, Kenny and Stan are known for their brutal one-liners from time to time, but Brady's joke comes from another iconic character.

Speaking at 2025's South by Southwest (SXSW) Festival, she spoke to Fox News Digital about the 'worst' joke she had ever written for the series.

South Park is known for being incredibly offensive, but very up-to-date (Comedy Central)

The American writer and producer explained: "It was based on an old frat joke… one character said ‘I don't trust anything that bleeds for five days and doesn't die'.

"I remember it was just like the most misogynistic frat boy joke that I'd heard of at that point… but we're reclaiming it," she insisted.

It's fair to say that the comment hasn't exactly aged well.

The character she's referring to is none other than the boys' fourth grade school teacher, Mr. Garrison, who you might know from Cartman's infamous scene with the megaphone.

If you don't, just Google it.

Despite not being the biggest fan of it today, the joke was part of the 1999 film titled South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut, which would receive an Oscar nomination in 2000.

Many fans consider the joke to be one of the show's funniest, but Brady has reclaimed it following International Women's Day, earlier this month.

The character is known for dropping zingers when he's on screen (Comedy Central)

Speaking about the treatment of women in Hollywood, she added: "I think there's always improvement to be made. I mean, women are 51 percent of the population, so it should always be 50 percent [female in writers' rooms].

"But I've been really lucky, you know, South Park's writers' room has always been 50-50, male-female," she admitting, adding that the industry nowadays is no longer 'the old boys network'.

While many think the art of comedy is dead nowadays due to cancel culture, Brady pointed out: "I do think you have to be more careful now, what you say.

"South Park had an episode where they represented… I'm not going to say what it was, but it was just someone you wouldn't want to represent on a show… and you could do it 20 years ago, but you can't do it now," she admitted.

The writer highlighted: "I think times change and I think sometimes it's good that you go, 'oh, you shouldn't do something that's like, a racist phrase that your grandparents would use.' And that's sort of just evolving."