Isaac Hayes Quits 'South Park' over Scientology???

[im10ashus]

NEW YORK - Isaac Hayes has quit "South Park," where he voices Chef, saying he can no longer stomach its take on religion.

Hayes, who has played the ladies' man/school cook in the animated Comedy Central satire since 1997, said in a statement Monday that he feels a line has been crossed.

"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," the 63-year-old soul singer and outspoken Scientologist said.

"Religious beliefs are sacred to people, and at all times should be respected and honored," he continued. "As a civil rights activist of the past 40 years, I cannot support a show that disrespects those beliefs and practices."

"South Park" co-creator Matt Stone responded sharply in an interview with The Associated Press Monday, saying, "This is 100 percent having to do with his faith of Scientology... He has no problem — and he's cashed plenty of checks — with our show making fun of Christians

cont'd...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060313/ap_en_tv/people_isaac_hayes

[SheepyMcSheepster]

1. sigh, I didn't know Hayes was a scientologist. eom

[im10ashus]

2. Me either.

What is it with Scientology and Hollywood? :shrug:

[SheepyMcSheepster]

3. I don't know

I wish it would stop, whatever "it" is.

[American Tragedy]

6. Scientology is rather expensive,

and celebrities are often among the ones who can afford it.

[im10ashus]

15. True, that.

I was particularly mortified to learn Beck was a Scientologist. I didn't see that one coming. :shrug:

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

28. I couldn't believe Jason Lee & Juliette Lewis are

[im10ashus]

29. JASON LEE?????

Now that pisses me off.

Someone just sent me this list:

Kirstie Alley, actress
Anne Archer, actress (her son, Tom Davis, runs the Los Angeles celebrity center)
Jennifer Aspen, actress
Lynsey Bartilson, actress
Jason Beghe, actor
Catherine Bell, actress
Karen Nelson Bell, producer, director and musician
Mary Bono, congresswoman
Sonny Bono, artist and congressman (claimed Catholicism on campaign biographies)
Rufus Buck, folk singer
David Campbell, musician
Gregory Caridi, writer, comedian
Nancy Cartwright, voiceover artist, most famous as the voice of Bart Simpson
Sharon Case, actress
Kate Ceberano, actress and musician
Erika Christensen, actress
Chick Corea, musician
Tom Cruise, actor (formerly Catholic, according to Parade)
Sky Dayton, founder and Chairman of the Board of EarthLink
Xavier Deluc, actor
Jason Dohring, actor
Jenna Elfman, actress, formerly Catholic, and her husband Bodhi, actor
Michael Fairman, actor
Brent Graber, voice of 'Otis' in movie 'Milo and Otis'
Paul Haggis, director
Beck Hansen, musician
Isaac Hayes, musician, actor, and voiceover artist ("Chef")
Katie Holmes, actress, introduced to Scientology by fiance Tom Cruise (formerly Catholic)
Nicky Hopkins, musician
Mark Isham, musician
Terry Jastrow, TV producer and director (married to Anne Archer)
Jim Johnson, owner of Mr. Jim's Pizza chain
Mike Joubert, Bronson Pinchot's voice coach
Cyprien Katsaris, musician
Chaka Khan, singer
Jason Lee, actor and professional skateboarder
Paul Leland, magician
Geoffrey Lewis, actor
Johnny Lewis, actor
Juliette Lewis, actress
Peggy Lipton, actress
Nathan Luksa, The Bus Stop
Christopher Masterson, actor
Danny Masterson, actor
Lisa McPherson, died at Fort Harrison Hotel
Peter Medak, director
Jim Meskimen, actor and improviser
Sofia Milos, actress (CSI: Miami)
Elisabeth Moss, actress
Floyd Mutrux, writer, director and producer
Haywood Nelson, actor
Corin Nemec, actor
Marisol Nichols, actress
Judy Norton, actress and musician
Eduardo Palomo, actor, and his wife Carina, actress and musician
Don Pearson, 'Management by Statistics' consultant
Michael Pena, actor
Bernadette Peters, actress and singer (source: Bergen Record 3/10/1985, may be an ex-member)
Jeff Pomerantz, actor and founder of Hollywood Says No to Drugs
Lisa Marie Presley, singer and daughter of Elvis
Priscilla Presley, actress and wife of Elvis
Kelly Preston, actress and John Travolta's wife
Leah Remini, actress
Giovanni Ribisi, actor
Marissa Ribisi, actress, wife of Beck Hansen, sister of Giovanni Ribisi.
Carina Ricco, singer, actress and composer
Michael D. Roberts, actor
Mimi Rogers, actress
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Congresswoman
Gloria Rusch-Novello, singer, writer and actress
Pablo Santos, actor
Meghan Schlinder, swimsuit model
Kristin Schwing, actress
Jeffrey Scott, writer for TV cartoons
Billy Sheehan, rock bassist
David Singer, chiropractor, 'Management by Statistics' consultant
Reed Slatkin, criminal ponzi scheme perpetrator
Bennetta Slaughter, printing business owner and employer of Lisa McPherson
Michelle Stafford, actress
Matthew Sullivan, self-proclaimed world champ
Ethan Suplee, actor
Patrick Swayze, actor
Greta Van Susteren, host of On the Record with Greta Van Susteren on FNC
Kevin A. Tavera, writer
John Travolta, actor
Vjacheslav Trushkin, website designer
Jeff Wells, author of Jeff Chandler: Film, Record, Radio, Television and Theater Performances (McFarland, 2005)
Josh Wiener, famous poet
Edgar Winter, musician
David Wittig, CEO
Bryan Zwan, founder of Digital Lightwave, inventor of fiber-optic testing equipment

[Matariki]

43. don't forget William Burroughs

[im10ashus]

51. Please tell me you are kidding.

Please?

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

49. Paul Haggis?? WTF?!?!!

I feel slightly less bad about hating Crash but I would never have expected that. Gak.

[sendero]

53. Not Jason Lee!!!!!!!!!!

.... I thought he was just trying to be a better person! He's just another dumb dick!

[im10ashus]

54. Yeah.

That one really caught me off guard.

[Johonny]

33. Pretty much

I think there's a hip thing about it too. The business model of Scientology is different than say born again Christians. I don't find scientology more evil than say a born again hack like Farwell who make's his millions praying on the poor. Most of the scientology victims are rich enough to afford their stupidity, while many born agains can not.

[JuniperLea]

40. Check again...

It's a cult, pure and simple. When you are inducted, you have a partner who follows you around making sure you are not dissing them to the press or just trying to infiltrate. Do a Google search on ex-scientologists. It's a real eye opener.

[Johonny]

44. It's more than a cult

It's a business. Their business model is different than many cults too.

[CAcyclist]

45. Maybe those Scientology victims

but I worked for a Scientology practice once and it hurt me and the other people who worked there. I'm not rich now and I was pretty darn poor then and I didn't want any part of their stupid cult. It was also emotionally tortuous if you were naive to buy into what they were trying to brainwash you with. Every week we'd have a staff meeting and we were considered bad people if we didn't make more money for the clinic that week than the week before.

Scientologists deliberately target movie stars; they also deliberately target small business owners in professions like dentistry,chiropractic and veterinary medicine because those people are often isolated and not very well-trained in regular business practices so they are sheep waiting to be fleeced when the Scientologists come in claiming to provide a business management program that will increase their business. They don't tell the owners initially they are Scientologists - they just slowly brainwash the people until they are ready to be assimilated.

[AllegroRondo]

7. It was one of L Ron Hubbards ideas

to go after famous people, especially Hollywood, and convert them. Use them and their publicity to promote his religion.

He even wrote a long essay / letter to the church about how they should 'target' Hollywood to expand the religion.

[American Tragedy]

22. He also said that religions were potentially very, very lucrative

hence the cost of the audits.

It is an admirable scam. I understand that the initial questionnaire is devised so that no matter what answers are entered, the respondent turns out to be someone who can greatly benefit from, nay, absolutely needs Scientology in their life.

[Raksha]

46. Anyone familiar with the area

knows they have also literally BOUGHT a large chunk of Hollywood over the past 30 years or so. They bought a former hospital and turned it into a Scientology center quite some time ago. Then they bought more real estate, and now there's a street they re-named "L. Ron Hubbard Drive." I forget what its name was before, but it makes me very sad since it's so close to the Self-Realization Fellowship which was founded by Yogananda--a true holy man, in my opinion. Incredibly, the SRF grounds still retain an atmosphere of holiness and peace in spite of their cultish neighbors.

[mitchum]

36. The perfect mark for Scientology is rich, stupid and insecure

[JuniperLea]

39. Severe insecurity leads many to become celebrities, actors, etc

Same deal sucks them into Scientology.









I used to love Chef... I can do without now. That show bashed Christians and Buddhists for years! That didn't seem to bother this guy in the slightest. I've lost all respect. I used to love his voice. I'm sure it will make me cringe now, much like the sight or sound of Tom Cruz does. I have no time in my life for empty headed celebrities.

[mattclearing]

4. I'm with Stone on this one.

Now that they are making fun of Scientology, he cares? What a hypocrite.

[NYC]

10. ...a different standard for religions other than his own...

...Stone told The AP he and co-creator Trey Parker "never heard a peep out of Isaac in any way until we did Scientology. He wants a different standard for religions other than his own, and to me, that is where intolerance and bigotry begin."

[demosincebirth]

12. I guess, he believes, they can lampoon other reiligions, but

scientology, which is a cult, you can't. I agree, he's a hypocrite.

[FatDave]

41. I'm not sure if they're technically a cult.

Insofar as their beliefs have outlived their chaismatic leader/originator. They're still batshit crazy loons, though. Watch the South Park episode in question for a nice animated synopsis, or google "Road to Xenu" for more than you'd ever want to know.

[demosincebirth]

47. A few years ago I was reading a book ( forgot the name) about cults

It had a lot of cults listed and what they believed. Scientology was right up there along with the Mormons.




cults: http://www.watchman.org/cat95.htm

[FatDave]

48. Well, there you go.

If Mormons are a cult, that's a pretty loose definition. When I think of cult, I think of a group centered around a living charismatic leader. Heaven's Gate, the Branch Davidians, Fred Phelps and his bunch. Yeah, there's wiggle room in there, L. Ron hasn't been gone for too long, but I can't imagine considering the Mormons a cult.

[slackmaster]

38. Scientology has no sense of humor about itself

It is truly an evil mind-control cult.

For a primer into the bizarre world of Scientology as told by former members and victims see http://www.clambake.org

[Fenris]

5. Stone and Parker have a point.

New Age healers, Catholics, Christian rock groups, people who liked "The Passion of the Christ," charismatic preachers...the list goes on.

It's a little late to get uptight about South Park insulting the beliefs of others.

[mattclearing]

16. Waaaaaay late. n/t

[Dorian Gray]

58. Exactly!

He's sat silently while they skewered others. So, though he has every right to quit now, he looks like an asshole for quitting only when it came to skewering HIS religion. If he felt this way, he should have taken a stand... oh, I don't know.... like SEVEN YEARS AGO!

He's a hypocrite, pure and simple.

[iconoclastNYC]

8. I wonder what pressure was put to bear on Hayes

Read the new article on Scientology at Rolling Stone.com and you might have a good educated guess.

[ronnykmarshall]

20. La Cruise issued an order ...

and Hayes must follow the rules of Queen Tomala.

[iconoclastNYC]

23. The head of the "church" Miscaivage

Has a certain twinkle in his eye. And he's very close to Cruise of course.

[Mike Daniels]

56. I thought the Rolling Stone article was pretty even handed

and it's still hard for me to see Scientology as anything more than a "self-improvement" course business wrapped up in the guise of religion.

[iconoclastNYC]

59. Except that when you say anything about about it.

You are labeled as a "Supressive Person" and you are cut off from your family. That's one of the defining charecteristics of a cult.

I don't know how you could read that article without coming to this conclusion. That was the whole point of the article. They use threat of loosing your family to keep people in line.

Disgusting. The fact that this makes people wealthy is just another disgusting aspect.

[Ladyhawk]

9. Religious beliefs should not be respected any more than other beliefs.

Question everything. Once we stop questioning, really stupid ideas take hold and people start killing one another over something stupid like, "Did Adam have a belly button?" (I don't know if people killed one another over that question, but they did kill or threaten to kill scientists that proved something in their religion was wrong.)

I think the creators of South Park need to get Tom Cruise and John Travolta to kill off Chef because he dissed their beliefs. :D

"Oh my god, the Scientologists killed Chef!"
"You bastards."

Life in South Park goes on as usual.

[wicket]

14. That would be hilarious!

:rofl:

[Ladyhawk]

32. Somehow I have a feeling that's what's going to happen. :D n/t

[wicket]

34. That's why we love South Park so much

:evilgrin: :rofl:

[Bushy Being Born]

11. I'm completely on Matt Stone's side on this

I found out Hayes was a Scientologist at the time of that episode, when a lot of people wondered how he would react and if he would, in fact, quit. What a hypocrite. And hey, I'm all for respecting religion (to an extent), but get this through your head Hayes: SCIENTOLOGY IS NOT A RELIGION! Boy you gotta be stupid to fall for that shit.

[oasis]

13. South Park has dissed Jesus since day one. Ike said nothing.(eom)

[Richard Steele]

17. So sad. Isaac is a scientology-drone?

His "statement" is utter bullshit.

Anyone who truly cared about insulting ANYONE'S beliefs would have never
worked on "South Park" for 9 minutes, let alone 9 YEARS!

Yeah, Isaac, you just read the scripts and cashed your checks
until your particular CULT took a little ribbing...and suddenly
you CARE about insulting somebody?

This makes me so sad.
Mr. Hayes, you used to be cool. AWESOME, even...

Millions of us knew that you were "A-Number One, the Duke of New York"
long before we heard it said in that movie...

But now, you stand revealed as a feeble puppet
of the silliest CULT to ever come down the pike.

Yeah, no need to work for a cartoon anymore,
since you have BECOME a cartoon in real life.

I'll miss you.

[NoodleyAppendage]

18. Time to kill off Chef and somehow make it the fault of Shitologists.

Shitology is a huge fraud. Nothing more...nothing less. Hayes can take his ohm meter and shove it up his ass.

J

[Baconfoot]

19. I don't have to respect and honor a religion which treatsME as a nonperson

As a non-scientologist, I am not a fully fledged rational entity according to the scientologists. I can be lied to with impunity and their members can be shunned for associating with me.

I have to respect that because it's his sacred belief?

Mmmmmm no.

Though... I think I could go for a religion based on a saying of Jared the Subway guy that really only inlaws didn't rise to the level of people.

[Renew Deal]

21. Scientology is not a religion.

Problem solved.

[iconoclastNYC]

24. You are a bigot!

:sarcasm:

[Bushy Being Born]

25. Matt & Trey avoided Scientology for years out of respect for Hayes

This article is from January 31:

South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone avoided poking fun at Scientology for years because they didn't want to upset show regular Isaac Hayes.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/31012006/364/hayes-kept-south-park-creators-scientology.html

That's pretty considerate for those guys.

[onehandle]

26. I agree with Hayes and Stone.

South Park is borderline hate programming when it comes to tolerance. It's funny as Hell, but I always feel a little guilty when I laugh.

Hayes has cashed a Lot of checks for years.

[KurtNYC]

30. Someone described South Park as

ultimately "making fun of people who care about anything." And I think that fits pretty well. That explains how the show fits into a Republican mindset. There is a demographic in political campaigns which is refered to as "South Park Republican."

Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Park_Republican

[im10ashus]

31. Yes, Hayes was tolerant enough to cash those checks.

Until it hit him personally.

[gatorboy]

27. That episode's been out for quite some time now.

I guess Hayes had a few extra checkes to cash...

[mitchum]

35. He was just there for his camp value anyway....

Hayes' days of musical genius were a loooong time ago

[slackmaster]

37. I loved the duet he did with James Taylor

A prostitute is someone who loves you
no matter who you are or what you look like...

[bobbieinok]

42. many links to scientology here,,,also link to South Park scientology show

http://www.xenu.net/

[im10ashus]

55. That's some creepy shit.

Seriously.

[robertarctor]

50. Funny

Hayes didn't seem to have a problem when South Park was poking fun at religions not named "Scientology."

Hypocrite.

[baby_mouse]

52. Scientology isn't a religion, it's a cult!

He should be institutionalised for his own good :sarcarsm:

Well, at least he should be shown how to question such things...

[iconoclastNYC]

60. I wonder if he got a free OT upgrade for it.

[wicket]

57. kick

:kick: