Chef quits South Park.

[Titans#1]

ISAAC Hayes, the voice of smooth-talking "Chef" in the blockbuster animated show South Park, has reportedly quit the program saying he can no longer stomach its take on religion.

"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," Associated Press reported the 63-year-old soul singer as saying.
"Religious beliefs are sacred to people, and at all times should be respected and honoured. As a civil rights activist of the past 40 years, I cannot support a show that disrespects those beliefs and practices."

Hayes released a statement saying he is quitting the show but he drew a sharp rebuff from the producers who claimed Hayes had cashed in on the success of South Park making fun of Christians.

[Kingytek]

It's ok children

[Eel 33]

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

[Steve Dangerous]

He's a scientologist btw.

maybe he saw the episode where they rip it to shreds lol

[DIEHARD]

He's a scientologist btw.

maybe he saw the episode where they rip it to shreds lol

haha yea.

[Eel 33]

He's a scientologist btw.

maybe he saw the episode where they rip it to shreds lol

Pfft!!! Says everything.

[Super Cronk]

south park is still going?

[Ipswich Fan]

Why after all this time is he worried about the way the portray religion, they've been doing it for years.

[DIEHARD]

South Park is one of the greatest shows. Better than the family guy or the simpsons.

[Steelers]

Why after all this time is he worried about the way the portray religion, they've been doing it for years.

Well seeing as he is a scientologist, and they recently did an episode portraying scientology... you do the math :p

[Queenslander]

Those crazy scientologist!!!! :roll:

[Steve Dangerous]

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Soul singer Isaac Hayes said on Monday he was quitting his job as the voice of the lusty character "Chef" on the satiric cable TV cartoon "South Park," citing the show's "inappropriate ridicule" of religion.

But series co-creator Matt Stone said the veteran recording artist was upset the show had recently lampooned the Church of Scientology, of which Hayes is an outspoken follower.

"In ten years and over 150 episodes of 'South Park,' Isaac never had a problem with the show making fun of Christians, Muslim, Mormons or Jews," Stone said in a statement issued by the Comedy Central network. "He got a sudden case of religious sensitivity when it was his religion featured on the show."

He added: "Of course we will release Isaac from his contract, and we wish him well."

In a statement explaining his departure from the show, Hayes, 63, did not mention last fall's episode poking fun at Scientology and some of its celebrity adherents, including actor Tom Cruise.

Rather, Hayes said the show's parody of religion in general was part of what he saw as a "growing insensitivity toward personal spiritual beliefs" in the media, including the recent controversy over cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad.

"There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry toward religious beliefs ... begins," Hayes said.

The crudely animated cartoon, heading into its 10th season next week as one of Comedy Central's biggest hits, centers on the antics of four foul-mouthed fourth graders in the town of South Park, Colorado.

Outlandish religious satire has been a mainstay of the show since its debut on the Viacom Inc.-owned network in 1997. The series grew out of two short films by Stone and collaborator Trey Parker -- "Jesus vs. Frosty" and "The Spirit of Christmas," the latter featuring a martial-arts duel between Jesus and Santa Claus over the true meaning of Christmas.

Hayes, the first black composer to win an Oscar for best song with his theme to the 1971 film "Shaft," gained renewed fame on "South Park" as the voice of Jerome "Chef" McElroy, the school cafeteria cook whom the boys often seek out for advice.

In an episode last fall, one of the gang, Stan, scores so high on a Scientology test that church followers think he is the next L. Ron Hubbard, the late science-fiction writer who founded the religion. Hayes did not take part in that episode.

In an interview with Reuters late last year, Hayes talked about a foundation he formed to bring Scientology-based study techniques to disadvantaged inner-city schools, in partnership with fellow devotee Lisa Marie Presley.

"But it's not religious," he said then, describing himself as Baptist by birth and Scientology as "an applied religious philosophy."

Comedy Central spokesman Tony Fox said producers have not decided whether Chef would be dropped from the show or continued with another actor supplying his voice.

oh dear.

[SuperCliffy#01]

I'll get over it by sucking on my salty covered chocolate balls.cya.

Kenny is a legend and has more resurrections than Jesus.

[Eel 33]

:yell: "BRING BACK KENNY"

[Steve Dangerous]

This is very interesting:



Isaac Hayes' Quitting Controversy

Isaac Hayes did not quit "South Park." My sources say that someone quit it for him.

I can tell you that Hayes is in no position to have quit anything. Contrary to news reports, the great writer, singer and musician suffered a stroke on Jan. 17. At the time it was said that he was hospitalized and suffering from exhaustion.

It?s also absolutely ridiculous to think that Hayes, who loved playing Chef on "South Park," would suddenly turn against the show because they were poking fun at Scientology.

Last November, when the ?Trapped in a Closet? episode of the comedy aired, I saw Hayes and spent time with him in Memphis for the annual Blues Ball.

If he hated the show so much, I doubt he would have performed his trademark hit song from the show, ?Chocolate Salty Balls.? He tossed the song into the middle of one of his less salacious hits and got the whole audience in the Memphis Pyramid to sing along.

I can tell you, Hayes was very pleased with himself, was in a great mood and, as always, loved his fans' coming up to him and asking him about Chef.

As recently as early January, before his stroke, Hayes defended the "South Park" creators in an interview with ?The AV Club,? the serious side of the satirical newspaper, The Onion.

AV Club: They did just do an episode that made fun of your religion, Scientology. Did that bother you?

Hayes: Well, I talked to Matt [Stone] and Trey [Parker] about that. They didn't let me know until it was done. I said, 'Guys, you have it all wrong. We're not like that. I know that's your thing, but get your information correct, because somebody might believe that [expletive], you know?' But I understand what they're doing. I told them to take a couple of Scientology courses and understand what we do. [Laughs.]

The truth is, Hayes has a sly sense of humor and loves everything about "South Park." It?s provided him a much-needed income stream since losing the royalties to the many hits he?s written, such as ?Shaft? and ?Soul Man,? in the mid-1970s.

Even though he?s one of America?s most prolific hit writers, Hayes has been denied access to profits from his own material for almost 30 years.

But it?s hard to know anything since Hayes, like Katie Holmes, is constantly monitored by a Scientologist representative most of the time. Luckily, at the Blues Ball he was on his own, partying just with family and friends. He was very excited about having gotten married and about the impending birth of a new child.

Friends in Memphis tell me that Hayes did not issue any statements on his own about South Park. They are mystified.

?Isaac?s been concentrating on his recuperation for the last two and a half, three months,? a close friend told me.

Hayes did not suffer paralysis, but the mild stroke may have affected his speech and his memory. He?s been having home therapy since it happened.

That certainly begs the question of who issued the statement that Hayes was quitting "South Park" now because it mocked Scientology four months ago. If it wasn?t Hayes, then who would have done such a thing?