A memo about South Park allegedly from the Church of Scientology reportedly explains Isaac Hayes’ exit as Chef from the show in 2006.
The musician, who died in 2008 aged 65, voiced the character Chef in the animated comedy from 1997 until 2006.
He left the show after an episode called ‘Trapped In The Closet’, which took aim at Scientology. Hayes, a Scientologist himself, reportedly tried to have the episode spiked but failed to do so. In a statement after quitting the show at the time, he said: “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.
“As a civil rights activist of the past 40 years I cannot support a show that disrespects those beliefs and practices.”
Further details surrounding his exit from the show have now been revealed after a memo, allegedly from the Church of Scientology, has surfaced.
The Daily Beast report that the memo was written by former Scientology executive Mike Rinder who said that the episode was “a total joking and degrading of Scientology, Tom Cruise and John Travolta”, both of whom are also members and who were referenced in the show.
The publication meanwhile claims the memo said that Hayes had been “very pissed” about the episode.
The memo allegedly stated: “He said he had had it with the show and is going to quit. This is not being done today so as not to create a media incident.”
The publication also claim that the memo repeated that Hayes chose to leave South Park over the episode.
Rinder also told The Daily Beast: “Isaac placed a call to Doug Herzog, the President of Comedy Central, to get them not to re-air the programme.”
NME has reached out to the Church of Scientology for comment.
The creators of South Park have previously spoken about how they thought Scientology led to Hayes’ exit from the show.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in 2016, they recalled: “When we did the Scientology episode, [Hayes] came over, and I sat with him. ‘It was like a day or two after, and it was pretty obvious from the conversation that somebody had sent him to ask us to pull the episode.
“It had already gone on the air, and we didn’t tell him because we didn’t want him to be held accountable. Plausible deniability.”
Hayes’ son, Isaac Hayes III, in the same interview, said his father was unwell at the time and “did not quit South Park” but added that “someone quit South Park for him”.
He recalled: “What happened was that in January 2006 my dad had a stroke and lost the ability to speak. He really didn’t have that much comprehension, and he had to relearn to play the piano and a lot of different things.
“He was in no position to resign under his own knowledge. At the time, everybody around my father was involved in Scientology — his assistants, the core group of people. So someone quit South Park on Isaac Hayes’ behalf. We don’t know who.”
Stone continued: “It really sucked, the whole thing. This statement put out that he was quitting, it kind of called us bigots.” Parker added: “But we knew in our hearts there was something way more rotten going on.”
After Hayes death, the creators of the show paid tribute to him.
The programme posted an “In memoriam” tribute featuring Chef on their official site at the time.
