As South Park’s future on the 2025 TV schedule becomes increasingly more unclear in the controversial shadow of Skydance Media’s impending Paramount Global acquisition, one of the animated comedy’s biggest scandals from years past has returned to the limelight. Isaac Hayes III, son of the iconic musician who voiced fan-favorite character Chef for nine seasons, is now sharing what he says is the truth behind the actor’s highly publicized exit that came months after one of South Park’s most outrageous eps, the Scientology-skewering “Trapped in the Closet.”
The episode first aired in November 2005 to minimal backlash, and with Hayes having purposefully been left out of the creative process, as he’d been part of the Scientology community since the 1990s. A few months later, the icon behind Shaft’s theme suffered a stroke, which was itself soon followed by his statement-buttressed South Park resignation that essentially accused the show of religious bigotry. But Hayes III doesn’t buy that those were actually his father’s words.
Speaking with Cracked nearly a decade after he first questioned the plausibility of his father’s South Park departure, Hayes III says that his father was not in a medically sound state of mind at the time for such life-altering decisions to have been made. In his words:
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At that time, my father was recovering from a stroke — literally learning how to talk, learning how to function. 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.
Isaac Hayes III says there were multiple reasons to believe that his late father wouldn't have quit South Park on his own accord, and his financial situation played a big part in it. He continued:
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.
With South Park popularity exploding and expanding throughout that first decade of its existence, Isaac Hayes' vocal and musical work as Chef allowed him to pull back from the struggles of having to go on tour so often. Hayes III said that in the aftermath of his stroke, without the show's income, his father was forced into facing the stresses of going back on the road, and he "100 percent" believes that having to tour again so quickly contributed heavily to the musician dying just two years later, in August 2008.
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Taking to X to share the interview, Hayes III made it clear that his dad had a blast voicing Chef over the years, and was both appreciative and welcoming of its fandom. To that end, he thinks the Oscar winner would still be a vital part of the South Park family had health issues and other factors not derailed things.
My dad loved Matt and Trey. 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. 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.
Around the time of Hayes' stroke and series exit, he didn't speak publicly very much about the series, leaving Stone and Parker to take the actors' statement at face value. Those then-unresolved frustrations led to another notoriously dark South Park episode, the Season 10 premiere "The Return of Chef," which utilized Hayes previously recorded dialogue as Chef became a brainwashed Scientology follower before being ruthlessly killed off.
Hayes III even says he understands that Stone and Parker put that story together while in the dark about what was actually happening, and that he understands "emotions were high." That said, he still doesn't think the way Chef's death made much sense in the scope of things.
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Isaac Hayes III made it clear his father had an easy-going personality and sense of humor, and that he wasn't the kind of person who took offense to things that were clearly meant to be humorous, even when satire was involved. Which isn't to say he necessarily would have thrown South Park marathons on in his free time, but Hayes III said he was far more appreciative of the fandom Chef garnered than he ever was upset by the show's content. When asked if the show's Chef material aligned with his father's personality, he answered:
It absolutely matched him. My father had an amazing sense of humor; he was a very cool guy. He was serious, but didn’t take himself too seriously. He was never personally bothered by the material at all. Again, it gave him a new legion of fans, and it helped connect those people with his music. Just in watching the shows, I don’t ever think there was anything out of bounds. They definitely pushed barriers, don’t get me twisted, but he understood that you’re not supposed to take it so seriously. It’s serious commentary not to be taken seriously, which is interesting.
It's interesting that Isaac Hayes III has become so candid about his father's South Park legacy, and at a point when its future is in turmoil regarding a parent company that recently axed The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Perhaps it was only because someone reached out to him and asked for his thoughts, but I'm curious to see if anything interesting happens in the aftermath. Such as, perhaps obviously, the voice actor joining the show to pay homage to Chef in some way.
For now, fans can stream South Park's seasons with a Max subscription, while its' standalone streaming specials are still available to watch with a Paramount+ subscription.
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