Isaac Hayes Was Forced to Quit ‘South Park’ by Scientology, Says Son

It has been almost 20 years since Isaac Hayes left his voice role of Chef in “South Park.” And it has also been 17 years since Hayes died at the age of 65. Now, the legendary performer’s son Isaac Hayes III has addressed the long-held rumor as to why exactly his father Hayes left the popular Comedy Central series.

It should first be noted that Hayes quit following the controversy regarding an episode that skewered Scientology entitled “Trapped in the Closet” (Season 9, Episode 12), in which Stan joins Scientology after recruiters say he is the reincarnation of church founder L. Ron Hubbard. Scientology has long tentacles in the entertainment industry, even more publicly so in 2005 when the episode aired. Famous members like Tom Cruise and John Travolta were sent up in the episode. Years later, during the podcast “Basic!,” “South Park” co-creator Matt Stone explained why the writers chose to spoof Scientology.

“Everyone knew Scientology was so litigious,” Stone said. “People in Hollywood were scared of Scientology at the time because they would just sue you. I think that got us going. The Tom Cruise episode was really about getting sued. I mean, poking openly litigious people and seeing where the line is and what you can say. They picked a fight with us and we just went with it.”

“South Park” voice actor Hayes, though, was a scientologist in real life. The fallout from “Trapped in the Closet,” his son says, is indeed the reason he quit “South Park”…but it was not his dad’s choice.

“For over 14 years, people have speculated about why my father left ‘South Park.’ I’m here to set the record straight. My dad did not quit ‘South Park.’ Scientology did,” Isaac Hayes III wrote on X. “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. 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 2016 THR piece, Hayes’ son — also known as Ike Dirty — 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.”

In his Twitter post, Hayes III said that his father “loved being the voice of Chef” and that he greatly enjoyed meeting fans. “The narrative that he quit because he was offended by the satire is not true,” he wrote. “That was a cover story created by others. My father never got to speak for himself because his health robbed him of that chance. So now I am speaking for him. He did not leave ‘South Park’ willingly. He was forced out by illness and by people who did not have his best interest at heart. This is for anyone who loved Chef. This is for anyone who admired my father’s work. This is the truth about what really happened.”