"Fatbeard" included prominent references to the April 2009 hijacking of by Somalian pirates. The crew of , the guided-missile destroyer that participated in the rescue of Richard Phillips from "Maersk Alabama", contacted the "South Park" creators to commend them on the episode. Ensign Jonathan Sieg, the "Bainbridge" public relations officer, wrote, "Pretty much everyone onboard our ship—from Captain to seaman—is a huge fan of "South Park", and when we heard about the episode 'Fatbeard', as you can imagine, we were thrilled and very interested to watch."