Donald Trump is no stranger to being parodied, but South Park has taken its trademark savagery to new levels this season—poking fun at the former president’s manhood in ways that had viewers wondering if legal action was on the cards.
Yet according to an obscure but hilarious legal concept known as the “small-penis rule,” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone may be shielded from any serious defamation lawsuit—should Trump ever decide to take them to court.
The animated series launched its 27th season with the episode Sermon on the Mount, and wasted no time laying into Trump. One standout scene depicted the former president in bed with Satan, attempting to seduce him, before being mocked for the size of his penis. “It’s so f***ing small,” Satan says in the episode, claiming he “couldn’t even see anything” when cartoon-Trump dropped his trousers.
After that humiliation, the fictional Trump character slaps Satan and shouts a threat to sue him—clearly mimicking the real Trump’s well-known litigious nature.
Given Trump’s history of suing media outlets, comedians, and critics alike, some fans speculated that Parker and Stone may have crossed a legal line. But under a peculiar legal defence strategy that’s gained notoriety in satire circles, they might be in the clear.
The so-called “small-penis rule” is a theoretical defamation workaround that’s been discussed in legal circles—most notably by Professor Michael Conklin in the Nebraska Law Review.
As he explained it, the principle works like this: if an author or creator includes embarrassing or defamatory details about a real person but adds a humiliating physical trait (like a small penis) to a character, it deters the real-life individual from suing.
Why? Because to sue for defamation, the plaintiff must admit the character is based on them—effectively admitting they also possess the embarrassing trait.
Or, as Conklin puts it: “The rule recommends that when an author utilises a fictional character to defame a real-life person, he should also give the character a small penis — the logic being that in order to sue, a plaintiff would have to admit that he is the fictional character, therefore admitting that he has a small penis.”
There’s no mistaking that the character depicted in the new South Park episodes is based heavily on Donald Trump. His voice, mannerisms, and over-the-top persona are recognisable—even if the show never refers to him by name.
But the inclusion of a deeply unflattering trait like a minuscule penis could act as a kind of legal moat. If Trump were to sue the show, he would have to legally argue that the cartoon character represents him—thus admitting, under oath, to the trait in question.
Whether he would ever be willing to do that is highly doubtful. For a man who has repeatedly boasted about his masculinity and taken public offence at previous jokes made about his anatomy, the likelihood of him voluntarily confirming such an insult seems slim.
Which is exactly the point of the “rule.” It acts as a deterrent.
It’s not an official law or statutory defence. No case has ever been decided based solely on the “small-penis rule,” and many legal experts consider it more of a tongue-in-cheek guideline than a serious legal argument.
Conklin himself acknowledges that its legal power is limited. While it may make someone think twice before launching a lawsuit, the underlying legal standards for defamation still apply.
In his analysis, the professor adds: “The logic behind this ‘rule’ doesn’t limit the possibility for defamation; rather, it could provide just another statement to use against the defendant.”
In other words, if Trump wanted to pursue a defamation case, he wouldn’t necessarily have to address the anatomical jokes. He could argue that the overall portrayal damaged his reputation in other ways—such as suggesting unethical behaviour or spreading falsehoods.
However, as the law currently stands, opinions—especially absurd or clearly satirical ones—are not considered “actionable in defamation” unless they can be proven factually false. And proving someone has or does not have a “tiny knob” isn’t exactly something that’s going to fly in open court.
Trump has been skewered by Parker and Stone for nearly a decade now, but season 27 has taken their disdain for the ex-president to a whole new level.
The latest run of episodes not only focuses on his political persona but delves deeply into grotesque and sexualised exaggerations that, while obviously fictional, still carry political sting. From being portrayed as Satan’s lover to becoming the subject of an entire episode about “micro-peen rage,” the portrayal is brutal.
In real life, Trump is known for reacting strongly to ridicule. He’s sued publications, threatened comedians, and famously hit back at media portrayals he deemed unfair or inaccurate.
But taking on South Park would be a different kind of challenge. The show has decades of legal precedent supporting its freedom to satirise public figures, particularly politicians.
Whether or not Parker and Stone wrote the scene with the “small-penis rule” explicitly in mind is anyone’s guess. But they’re seasoned veterans when it comes to skirting legal landmines through the use of absurdism and over-the-top parody.
In many ways, it’s a brilliant tactic: make the character so ridiculous, so exaggerated, that no reasonable person could mistake it for a factual portrayal. That’s satire’s strongest shield.
And by weaving in humiliating elements like the size jokes, they add yet another layer of insulation.
Of course, none of this makes them entirely lawsuit-proof. But it does make a potential lawsuit from someone like Trump both more difficult and more damaging—at least in terms of PR optics.
After all, no president wants to stand in front of a judge and argue about cartoon genitalia.
While South Park is no stranger to controversy, this latest season has stirred the pot in a uniquely provocative way. By combining brutal character assassination with clever legal sidestepping, the creators are once again proving that their brand of humour remains as sharp—and legally slippery—as ever.
Trump, meanwhile, has yet to publicly comment on the show. But in true South Park fashion, that may be the best outcome Parker and Stone could hope for.
Because if he does sue?
They’ll have a whole new episode ready before the paperwork’s even filed.