Isaac Hayes Quits 'South Park'

By ERIN CARLSON, Associated Press Writer 59 minutes ago

NEW YORK -
Isaac Hayes has quit "South Park," where he voices Chef, saying he can no longer stomach its take on religion.
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Hayes, who has played the ladies' man/school cook in the animated Comedy Central satire since 1997, said in a statement Monday that he feels a line has been crossed.

"There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins," the 63-year-old soul singer and outspoken Scientologist said.

"Religious beliefs are sacred to people, and at all times should be respected and honored," he continued. "As a civil rights activist of the past 40 years, I cannot support a show that disrespects those beliefs and practices."

"South Park" co-creator Matt Stone responded sharply in an interview with The Associated Press Monday, saying, "This is 100 percent having to do with his faith of Scientology... He has no problem — and he's cashed plenty of checks — with our show making fun of Christians."

Last November, "South Park" targeted the Church of Scientology and its celebrity followers, including actors
Tom Cruise and
John Travolta, in a top-rated episode called "Trapped in the Closet." In the episode, Stan, one of the show's four mischievous fourth graders, is hailed as a reluctant savior by Scientology leaders, while a cartoon Cruise locks himself in a closet and won't come out.

Stone told The AP he and co-creator Trey Parker "never heard a peep out of Isaac in any way until we did Scientology. He wants a different standard for religions other than his own, and to me, that is where intolerance and bigotry begin."

He didn't seem to have a problem with "The Passion of the Jew", either.

Too bad. Parker & Stone are going to lambaste him at every opportunity while the show continues on. He asked for it.

Interesting...

From The Onion AV Club

Typical of a Scientologist. How often have Stone and Parker made fun of various Christians? Yet one episode making fun of this recently made up religion. And where in that episode were they wrong about the facts?
I am sure that they will either recast Chef or bring in a character to replace his role. And they will make fun of the situlation when they do.
Cheers,
Janine

Oh shit. I didn't realize Hayes ran with the scientology crowd... yikes. Kind of a shame really. I used to think so much more of him.

Yeah, Isaac Hayes was more fun when he was The Black Moses.
Cheers,
Janine

I kind of hope that they don't even bother doing anything about it. Chef has been such a non-entity in the last few seasons that they could never mention him again and no one would probably notice.

Read what Matt Stone says at the end of the article. He is pissed and with a damned good reason. This is prime fodder for them. This will be used and it will be funny.
Cheers,
Janine

Stone's response was hilarious. There shall be no sympathy.

I look forward to it. My original distaste with Scientology came from the fact that they bastardize the name of science. Fuckers. But seeing as how big of pricks scientologists are and how quickly they go on the attack makes me dislike them even more. I have no problem with people believing what ever they want but please keep it between you and God, or in some cases you and some alien spirit.

It took balls for Hayes to quit.

Big, salty, brown balls.

There's a very good Rolling Stone article in (I think) the most recent issue with Shaun White on the cover. It makes mention of the South Park episode and pretty much demystifies Scientology for what it is.

Inside Scientology

The Rolling Stone article is a worthwhile read. I spent some time about a year ago looking at both pro- and anti-Scientology websites, and man... that shit creeps me out like no other. I actually feel nervous reading about it, which is not a common feeling for me. Just the fact that people believe that kind of sci-fi, created-on-an-acid-trip garbage worries me, honestly.

Let me see if I've got this straight:

Isaac Hayes is OK with making fun of God but not John Travolta?

Too bad Barry White's not still alive - he'd be the obvious choice for "Chef".

Looks like Isaac gave 'em the shaft.

wah wah.

you know, john travolta is pretty close to god. didn't you see "michael"?

Not "The Darrin Factor"! That will really make the show Jump The Shark!




It's my understanding he was their first choice, but he turned them down. Teddy Pendergrass is still alive .

As long as they don't pick this guy, they should be OK:

or this Ted...

Good Morning!

Not much to add than what's already been said, but this is definitely a blessing, not a curse. The Chef character had really become inessential during the past few seasons, and it felt like many of his lines were forced into the script just to give Hayes some screentime. Anyway, the fodder from this is much more valuable than anything chef could potentially add to the series at this point.

more proof that scientology is whack!

This is good news, now Hayes can focus on..oh yeah, South Park was the only interesting thing he had going on. Enjoy doing autograph sessions at malls for any income Isaac..

Or do a few more Pepsi commercials.,.or was it Arby's?

I hate the fact that a Scientologist is leading the call for Forever Copyrights. Mary Bono, waving the name of her dead husband (Sonny Bono) like a saint's relic, and with the complicit assistance of Disney (covering their Mickey Mouse asses), have extended Copyright to the creator's life plus 75 years. Congresswoman Bono's also stated "Sonny wanted the term of copyright protection to last forever," but she was "informed by staff that such a change would violate the Constitution" (Duh!) and has proposed, with the MPAA's assitance, that Copyright be extended to "forever less one day."

Why would Scientology want this? Their sacred books are Copyrighted, and their innermost secret beliefs have been kept secret under that Copyright protection. Uncovering those secrets to everyone would limit the secrets' power to the true believers (a Mystery School loses it's power with the exposure of it's mystery), and might expose the sect to ridicule (like the fact that L Ron misunderstood evolution and got the numbers wrong on how long radioactivity would last from a nuclear explosion large enough to remove all life from Earth). Plus, they make most of their money through Copyrighted books & processes.

true dat fredster. one of my ex cooworkers got himself into quite a financial mess trying to become a fullblown scientology master. after all was said and done he had blown about 5 grand on his wizard books and training. gots to have some deep pockets to hang with the travolta bunch.

I hope this means the return of Mr Derp

Barry White was doing Arby's.

Hey, he had a brilliant role in Hustle & Flow as, uh... well, he owned a bar and bought drugs.

I don't like it much anymore anyway

So the episode that was supposed to be on tonight at 9 was "Trapped in the Closet" which is the Scientology episode, but it has apparently been pulled and instead is the one with the South Park Film Festival and Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls. And right before this "Chef Aid" was on. So they pull the episode that Issac Hayes is mad about and show two episodes that prominatly feature him?

Parker and Stone coming up on Letterman tonight...just got done with his monologue.

Ah, crap. I DVR'd it just because I thought it was the Scientology one.

Oh well, I'll just download it.

Here's Matt Stone and Trey parker's response to the episode being pulled, printed in Variety (http://www.variety.com/VR1117939918.html):

"So, Scientology, you may have won THIS battle, but the million-year war for earth has just begun! Temporarily anozinizing our episode will NOT stop us from keeping Thetans forever trapped in your pitiful man-bodies. Curses and drat! You have obstructed us for now, but your feeble bid to save humanity will fail! Hail Xenu!!!"

The duo signed the statement "Trey Parker and Matt Stone, servants of the dark lord Xenu."

http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-southpar...ap-tv-headlines

Chef's Back, Even If Hayes Isn't
'South Park' premiere trumpets character's return

LOS ANGELES -- "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone may yet have the final word on Isaac Hayes' departure from the show.

The series, which has been the focus of much media speculation in the past week over Hayes leaving and Comedy Central's pulling of a Scientology-mocking episode, begins its 10th season Wednesday night with an episode called "The Return of Chef!" -- while making no mention of Hayes.

In the episode, Chef makes a "triumphant homecoming" to South Park (even prior to the "Trapped in the Closet" episode that apparently sparked Hayes' departure, the character hadn't been seen much for a while). The boys are glad to have their friend back, but "they notice that something about Chef seems different."

Where most animated shows need months to complete an episode, "South Park" is often able to turn out a completed show in a matter of days. Therefore, Parker and Stone, who also do much of the voice work, can poke fun current events faster than pretty much any other show in primetime (last spring's "Best Friends Forever," which commented on the Terri Schiavo case, is a good example).

Hayes, who's voiced Chef since "South Park" debuted in 1997, released a statement last week saying he wanted out of the show after deciding he no longer could take the show's frequent mocking of religion. The series has targeted Christianity, Islam and Judaism as well as Scientology. In his own statement, Stone challenged Hayes' stated reasons for leaving, noting he'd never objected to religious satire until after the "Trapped in the Closet" episode aired.

A few days after that, Comedy Central pulled a scheduled repeat of "Trapped in the Closet," which led to rumors that Tom Cruise -- also a target of the episode -- had threatened to pull out of promoting "Mission: Impossible 3" if the episode aired again. Paramount, which is releasing the movie, and Comedy Central are both owned by Viacom.

Cruise's reps denied the rumor, and Comedy Central said it wanted to give Hayes a nice sendoff by showing two Chef-centric episodes instead.

We're thinking all this might spark a little interest in the season premiere.

Here's the requisite petition protesting the removal of the Tom Cruise episode. Hopefully they'll just make him a recurring character in the new season.