'South Park' Saved Least-Flattering Episode for Lucasfilm Prez Kathleen Kennedy

Ever since the adult cartoon series South Park first aired in 1997, it has been a controversial show that encompasses the best and worst of humanity. Following a cast of round cartoon characters such as Kyle and Cartman, the series satirically explores pop culture topics and modern news headlines with biting wit and self-deprecating humor.

The series has blasted and humbled many a celebrity throughout the years, with no holds barred at times.

One such celebrity to get the South Park treatment was Lucasfilm president, Kathleen Kennedy., who is reportedly stepping down from the company by the end of 2025. Handpicked by founder George Lucas to succeed him at the company and continue his vision, Kathleen has been wildly unpopular at times, giving South Park the fuel they needed to give her character one of their least-flattering portrayals in the series history.

Here's what we know about that biting Kathleen Kennedy South Park episode and why she was such an easy target.

In 2023, South Park tackled the then-president of Lucasfilm's legacy. The episode was titled, "South Park: Joining the Panderverse." The name itself was a stab at contemporary film releases including in the Doctor Strange franchise, which brought Marvel characters into alternate universes to face evil versions of themselves or other characters. Marvel, of course, is owned by Disney, as is LucasFilm.

"Pandering" is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as doing, saying, or providing "what someone (such as an audience) wants or demands even though it is not good, proper, reasonable, etc."

Putting those two together, it was instantly obvious that the episode would be tackling Disney executives and the way fans have accused them of "pandering" to audiences to the detriment of their films' quality.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens was a prime target of accusations of pandering, introducing a female Jedi lead for the first time in a major Star Wars film.

In the episode, Kathleen is portrayed as an aggressive and incompetent leader, under whose guidance the company fell prey to pandering pitfalls and turned the Star Wars franchise into a disappointment.

At one point, Eric Cartman suggests that the Star Wars quality "decline" could be the result of an alternate universe villain slipping into the South Park universe, but Kyle brushes it off as "just lazy writing." Characters fear "Disney executives," mostly Kathleen, hiding under their beds.

It was a brutal takedown of Kathleen's leadership and the direction the franchise was headed in.

But George Lucas, who founded and brought the Star Wars franchise to life with his eponymous Lucasfilm production company, hand-picked Kathleen to succeed him, believing in her ability to progress his vision. So why was she so wildly unpopular?

According to fans, the reasons for their disdain are as numerous as they are passionate.

At the core of the complaints on social media is the idea that Star Wars began to embrace a more diversified central cast. The original Star Wars line-up was pretty darn white, and mostly male.

With the advent of The Force Awakens, female leads, and Black heroes began taking center stage, unsettling fans who had always taken for granted that they would see themselves represented as the heroes in Star Wars.

On social media, the franchise was accused of "going woke," just to pander to certain fans.

However, other fans have more logical and well-thought-out reasons for disliking Kathleen. In one YouTube video, John Campea points out that she failed to create harmonious teams and struggled to tap appropriate leaders for films. John also criticized the fact that Kathleen opted to revisit old characters instead of telling new stories.

It should be noted, however, that John released the critical video in 2019, and Kathleen did spearhead the release of multiple "new" character stories in the intervening time before announcing her retirement in 2025.

Nonetheless, the reasons for fans disliking the direction that Kathleen took the franchise in are myriad. Of course, it begs the question: if George picked Kathleen, knowing what her plans for the franchise would be, would he have done the same if he had stayed at the helm of Lucasfilm?

And if he had stayed at the helm, would the same decisions under George receive the same level of criticism?

It's unclear how that might have shaken down, and all we can do is speculate. But South Park never tore George a new one to the same degree they did Kathleen, despite the fact that Star Wars was always relatively progressive compared to the times in which the films were released.