7 hours ago
2
Nearly 20 years after Isaac Hayes, the iconic voice of Chef on South Park, left the show amid controversy, his son Isaac Hayes III is setting the record straight by placing the blame squarely on Scientology, not his father.
Hayes’ departure came in 2006, shortly after the show aired the now-infamous episode “Trapped in the Closet,” a brutal takedown of Scientology. At the time, the following statement was issued in his name: “There is a place in this world when satire ends, and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begin.”
But according to Isaac Hayes III, his father never wrote those words — and never made that decision. “My dad didn’t quit South Park. Scientology did,” Hayes III recently wrote on social media. “After the episode ‘Trapped in the Closet’ aired in 2005, my father suffered a stroke just a few months later that left him unable to speak or make decisions on his own.”
Hayes III continued, “He was not in any condition to resign from anything. The truth is, someone else within his Scientology circle made that decision and quit the show for him.”
In a recent interview with Cracked, Hayes III provided more insight. “At the time, the people that were around him were largely Scientologists — his publicists and management,” he said. “Those decisions about his involvement in the show, his leaving the show, were made by those people and not him. He would have never quit that show.
Hayes, who passed away in 2008, never returned to South Park before his death. However, his son made sure to emphasize that he loved voicing Chef and connecting with fans about the character: “He would joke with people who recognized his voice and he truly enjoyed being part of the show.”
Isaac Hayes III is no stranger to speaking out on behalf of his father. In August 2024, he won an injunction against Donald Trump to prevent the now president from using his father’s song, “Hold On, I’m Coming,” at campaign rallies without permission.
South Park Season 27 will air on Wednesday, July 23rd, after being delayed for two weeks by Paramount+ due to its merger with Skydance.
English (US) · 