In November 2005, during the 9th season of “South Park,” an episode titled “Trapped in the Closet” aired. It parodied R. Kelly’s musical soap opera series of the same name while also mercilessly mocking Scientology. This particular episode allegedly caused a rift with music legend and Scientologist Isaac Hayes, who voiced Chef on the series. His character did not appear in that episode, a move creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone said was to give him plausible deniability.
Isaac Hayes III, his son, says the episode had nothing to do with his father’s departure from the series.
“South Park” vs Hayes
Hayes left the series a few months after “Trapped in the Closet” aired. “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,” Hayes said in a statement at the time.
Roughly a week later, “The Return of Chef” aired, with the character clearly voiced by sound clips taken from older episodes. It ends with Chef being set on fire, then falling from a bridge, only to be mauled by mountain lions. Followed by a speech about how we should “remember Chef how he was.” The gag was shocking even to die-hard fans of the series and came off like a mean-spirited attack on the actor.
“South Park” did resurrect Chef at the end of the teaser for “Darth Chef,” a story they would never get to explore because Hayes passed away following a stroke in August 2008.
In 2016, Hayes III revealed the real reason for his father’s departure from the show; his father had suffered a stroke in January 2006. “Isaac Hayes did not quit South Park; someone quit South Park for him,” Hayes III said at the time.
After the stroke, Hayes lost his ability to speak and some cognitive comprehension. “He was in no position to resign under his own knowledge,” Hayes III said. “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.”
Hayes III Keeps Pushing Back
In a recent interview, Hayes III gave more insight into these comments. “So, initially, the episode came out in November, and there was no reaction,” he told Cracked about “Trapped in The Closet.” “There wasn’t any upswell about that episode at all. It really wasn’t a big deal at the time. That January, in 2006, my dad had a stroke, and during the course of his recovery, I think that March, they re-aired the episode. When it re-aired, that’s when Scientology got upset.”
“At that time, my father was recovering from a stroke — literally learning how to talk, learning how to function.” Hayes III adds. “I visited my father. He was really struggling sometimes to even speak and say words. At the time, the people that were around him were largely Scientologists — his publicists and management. 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. He loved that show, and he was making a lot of money doing that show. So, I take issue with the way those decisions were made on his behalf because it put him in a position to actually have to go on the road and tour before he was ready to tour.”
Touring?
Hayes began to tour again, “probably less than a year afterwards. Because South Park was such a breadwinner. It was a great show, and he was making money. So now that you don’t have this income stream anymore, you have to find other ways to make income. Touring is a way to do that.”
He went on to point out going from sitting in front of a mic and talking to being back on the road would be hard on anyone. And even more challenging for someone recovering from a stroke less than a year before.
Though he still had no ill will towards “South Park” over the whole ordeal. “My dad loved Matt and Trey,” Hayes III insists. “He loved that character. He loved the show. He loved what it meant. He would have stayed involved all the way until right now. To this day, he would still be on the show. That’s the part that frustrates me.”
“I don’t think Matt and Trey knew that at the time, because, even his own family, we were not always allowed to be in that inner circle,” he admits. “Anybody that has a celebrity parent, sometimes the core team around them, Scientology or not, can be a barrier to their family and personal relationships.
“My father was married at the time, so his wife was there,” he continues. “We entrusted her, and she was fine. She was involved in Scientology, I think. I can’t say that she was all the way — I won’t say that she was involved — but I know that she was just there for him. So I felt comfortable that his wife was around. At least somebody that has his best interest in mind was around. But, by no means those decisions were made on his own.”
Did Touring Hurt Him?
When asked if touring may have accelerated his father’s demise, “Yes. 100 percent,” Hayes III responds. “And part of what I recall from Scientology is, they weren’t big on modern medicine. They were more into holistic things. So even the medication that he was probably supposed to be taking, he probably wasn’t taking. All of those factors, you know what I’m saying?”
When asked why he waited almost 10 years to make his initial comments; “Because it’s important for my dad’s legacy — for people to understand what that show meant to him and what the fans of that show meant to him. That was more important than whatever the reason was for him leaving the show or people quitting on his behalf. I just felt it was important for people to know that he would never do that. Just setting the record straight. Because, why would he do that? It doesn’t make sense. They make fun of everybody on the show. Why would he, all of a sudden, get offended about something that has nothing to do with his character and then quit? That didn’t make no sense.”
The Return of Chef?
Hayes III also explained that he wouldn’t be opposed to Chef coming back to the show or joining the cast himself.
“I’m always open to that for sure. I mean, I’m a voice actor, and my father and I have similar voices. Anything’s possible. I’m open to the idea, but I would think even more along the lines of, with technology, with A.I., that Chef himself could come back.”
You can read Hayes III’s Facebook post about the interview here.
