It was 2009. The internet wasn't the screaming void it is today, but it was getting there. Then, a single episode of South Park aired and changed everything for a certain Chicago rapper. You know the one. The joke was so stupidly simple that it basically broke the brain of a self-proclaimed genius.
"Do you like fishsticks?"
"Yeah."
"Do you like putting fishsticks in your mouth?"
"Yeah."
"What are you, a gay fish?"
That’s it. That is the entire bit. On paper, it's a middle-school level pun. But when Kanye West became the target, it turned into a cultural phenomenon that has followed him for nearly two decades. Honestly, the story of how this joke came to be—and why Kanye reacted the way he did—is weirder than the episode itself.
The Secret Origin of the Fishsticks Joke
Most people think Trey Parker and Matt Stone just sat in a room and decided to bully Kanye. That’s not quite how it went. Bill Hader, the SNL legend who was a consultant for South Park at the time, actually spilled the tea on the joke's origin during a writers' retreat in Seattle.
The writers were at the Ballard Locks watching salmon jump up a ladder. Somebody made a joke about a salmon wearing an Evel Knievel outfit. This reminded them of Kanye West’s "Touch the Sky" video where he actually dressed like the daredevil. Then, the wordplay started. "Fish dicks." "Fishsticks." They Googled it to see if someone had already made the joke. Remarkably, no one had.
💡 You might also like: Why Love Island Season 7 Episode 23 Still Feels Like a Fever Dream
They realized the joke was dumb. It was bottom-of-the-barrel humor. But they also realized that one specific person would absolutely, 100% lose their mind over it because they lacked a sense of humor about themselves. That person was Kanye.
Why Kanye West Couldn't Just Laugh It Off
In the episode, titled "Fishsticks" (Season 13, Episode 5), everyone in the world gets the joke except Kanye. He spends the half-hour trying to scientifically disprove that he is a fish. He even gets a doctor to confirm he doesn't have gills. It was a surgical strike on his ego.
At the time, Kanye was in his 808s & Heartbreak era. He was using heavy Auto-Tune. He was calling himself the "voice of a generation" and a "lyrical wordsmith." South Park took that bravado and turned it into a guy who was so "genius" he couldn't see a pun right in front of his face.
Kanye's real-life response was... surprisingly humble? At first.
📖 Related: When Was Kai Cenat Born? What You Didn't Know About His Early Life
He posted an all-caps blog entry (classic 2009 Kanye) saying:
"SOUTH PARK MURDERED ME LAST NIGHT AND IT'S PRETTY FUNNY. IT HURTS MY FEELINGS BUT WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT FROM SOUTH PARK!"
He actually admitted he needed to work on his ego. It felt like a breakthrough. For a second, it seemed like he might actually grow from it.
The 2024 Resurgence: Vultures and Beyond
If you thought the kanye west gay fish joke died in the 2010s, you haven't been paying attention to his recent lyrics. Even in 2024, on the Vultures 2 project, there are nods to the old memes. He’s been lashing out at the writers of the show for years, long after the initial "mea culpa."
👉 See also: Anjelica Huston in The Addams Family: What You Didn't Know About Morticia
In his song "Gorgeous" from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, he famously rapped about choking a South Park writer with a fishstick. It’s clear the joke stayed under his skin. It wasn't just a parody; it became a defining part of his public persona. The more he fought the "gay fish" label, the more people used it.
The Cultural Aftermath
- The Taylor Swift Incident: After Kanye interrupted Taylor Swift at the 2009 VMAs, Comedy Central aired the "Fishsticks" episode four times back-to-back. It became the ultimate "shut up" button for the public.
- Carlos Mencia: The episode also took a brutal swipe at comedian Carlos Mencia for stealing jokes. He didn't fare as well as Kanye in the long run.
- The "Gay Fish" Song: The parody of "Heartless" at the end of the episode actually became a legitimate hit in its own right, further cementing the meme in the digital archives.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Meme
Basically, the joke isn't about sexuality. It isn't even really about fish. It’s about ego blindness.
The reason it ranks as one of the best South Park episodes ever isn't the punchline—it's the observation of how certain celebrities become so insulated by their own fame that they lose the ability to process basic human interaction. When Kanye eventually "accepts" he is a gay fish at the end of the episode and jumps into the ocean, it's a hilarious metaphor for someone fully committing to a delusion just to maintain their sense of "knowing everything."
How to Navigate the Legacy of the Joke
If you're looking back at this today, it's a fascinating time capsule of celebrity culture. To really understand the impact, you should:
- Watch the original episode: It’s Season 13, Episode 5. Pay attention to the "flashback" scenes where Cartman keeps reimagining how he came up with the joke.
- Read the 2009 blog post: It’s a rare look at a vulnerable Kanye before the later, more controversial years.
- Check out the 2024 references: Listen to the subtle jabs in his newer tracks to see how the "gay fish" haunting continues.
The joke persists because the personality trait it mocked—the inability to take a joke—has only become more prominent in Kanye's career. It’s a rare case of a cartoon successfully predicting the future trajectory of a superstar's mental state.
To get the full picture of how this shaped modern comedy, your next move is to look into the "The Hobbit" episode from Season 17, where Trey and Matt revisited the character to see how much (or how little) he had changed.