South Park returned last night with a hilarious solution to the Colin Kaepernick national anthem controversy as the start of its 20th season on air, and in the 20 years it’s been on the air there’s been a few hiccups along the way. To celebrate how long the show has lasted, Hollywood Reporter pulled together an oral history of the show told by Trey Parker, Matt Stone and others, including the son of Isaac Hayes, aka Chef.
The story goes that Hayes, a practicing Scientologist, quit South Park after the “Trapped In The Closet” episode aired in 2005. But according to Hayes’ son, apparently his father did NOT want to quit the show – someone wound up quitting for him:
“Isaac Hayes did not quit South Park; someone quit South Park for him. 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 people. So someone quitSouth Park on Isaac Hayes’s behalf. We don’t know who.”
He further went on to explain that “My father was not that big of a hypocrite to be part of a show that would constantly poke fun at African-American people, Jewish people, gay people – and only quit when it comes to Scientology.”
Be as skeptical as you like, but it makes sense — Matt Stone even told Hollywood Reporter that during a conversation with him, it seemed like Hayes was being pressured by outside parties, stating that “It was pretty obvious from that conversation that somebody had sent him to ask us to pull the episode.”
Sorry Chef – at least you’ll always be alive in our hearts.
[Via Hollywood Reporter, H/T Uproxx]