South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have spent most of the show’s latest season courting controversy and making headlines, but at the moment they are speaking out in favor or something much more wholesome: they want fans to consider contributing to a GoFundMe campaign established to help the family of their friend Matt Karpman with expenses related to his ALS diagnosis. Karpmann, it turns out, was the namesake for Eric Cartman, the antagonist/mascot of South Park and probably the most recognizable character on the show. It all started, according to a story shared on the crowdfunding site, with trash talk over a football game.
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Per the GoFundMe page, the inspiration to name a character after Karpman came during the 1995 Super Bowl, when Karpman — described as a late bloomer whose creative and funny insults kept older/bigger kids at bay in high school — launched a tirade of trash talk against another person at the party. That was the moment when Trey Parker was struck by inspiration.
Per the page:
So the game kicked off and the Niners quickly established dominance on their way to routing the Chargers, almost to the same degree that they crushed the Broncos a few years earlier. The Niners seemed unstoppable and before you knew it the score was 16-0. Our posse had now enjoyed several High Fiving celebration moments of revelry. We were quickly becoming jaded winners during the “Boring” Super Bowl route. As per usual, there was plenty of back and forth old school trash talking between Karpman and all the Bros during this game. So at one point Karpman jumps up to high five all of his friends and is met with a “Shut up Karpman” from one of us that eroded quickly into more hilarious trash talking.
All the sudden, Trey who had been sitting quietly in the corner observing this bro fest, blurts out “Cartman! That’s the perfect name for the Fat Kid” He said it loudly and we all heard it and started laughing at Karpmen, who was quick to retort with something like “Fuck you Trey! I will bung sao your ass!” And then Karpmen and Trey started on a hilarious dialog of insults aimed at each other, which just cemented the fact in Trey’s mind that “The Fat Kid” now had to be named “Cartman.” It was a done deal.
The family is asking for some help getting through the holidays in light of his health issues and the financial burder they are putting on his family. Fans who want to help out, can visit Karpman’s campaign at the link above.
