The Real Reason Isaac Hayes Left South Park

“South Park” has made a lot of enemies over its almost 30-year run on TV. From NAMBLA to “Family Guy” and the entire religion of Islam, “South Park” has turned ruffling feathers into big business. However, the beef that hit closest to home for the typically unflappable series was the one with Isaac Hayes following his exit from the series in 2006.

The reason why Hayes left “South Park” has been the subject of speculation and hearsay since the acclaimed singer’s death in 2008, and for the better part of 20 years it seemed like there was no clear answer on why Hayes left the show. That is, until to the actor’s son, Isaac Hayes III, explained why his father really said goodbye to the town of South Park, Colo.

“Isaac Hayes did not quit ‘South Park’; someone quit ‘South Park’ for him,” the musician-turned-actor’s son explained in an oral history of the show published by The Hollywood Reporter. “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.”

Despite their work on a cartoon that delights in courting controversy, “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone were still surprised to see Hayes suddenly leave the series, leaving a hole where his charismatic character Chef once lived since the show’s earliest days on air.

According to Isaac Hayes III, Stone and Parker approached his father for the role, not thinking he would accept it. However, Hayes accepted the role simply to see where it would go, never expecting it to become part of the cultural zeitgeist. Chef was something of a moral compass whom the kids could approach to ask awkward questions — but that all changed after “South Park” set its sights on the Church of Scientology in the Season 9 episode “Trapped in the Closet.”

“Trapped in the Closet” explains what Scientologists believe, in excruciatingly detail, and the notoriously litigious organization didn’t take it well. Hayes was himself a Scientologist, and in THR’s oral history, Stone recounts the surreal encounter he had with Hayes, where “it was pretty obvious from the conversation that somebody had sent him to ask us to pull the episode.” 

Four months later, Hayes would announce on social media that he’d quit working on the show, but as noted above, his son has since set the record straight. Hayes III also clarified that his father wasn’t so hypocritical as 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.”

In a follow-up interview with Cracked, Hayes III elaborated on how his father would have never quit the show of his own accord because of how much he loved Stone and Parker. “To this day, he would still be on the show,” Hayes III said.

Hayes passed away in 2008, and his son alleges it was due to complications from members of the Church pushing his father back into a rigorous touring schedule shortly after his stroke. Sadly, he never got a chance to buy a return ticket to South Park.