South Park's 'Chef' Isaac Hayes wants out

South Park's 'Chef' Isaac Hayes wants out

LOS ANGELES - Soul singer Isaac Hayes has revealed on Monday that he wants out from his role as "Chef" on cartoon TV's "South Park." Hayes said the show's "inappropriate ridicule" of religion was the main reason he wanted to stop lending his voice to Chef.

However, South Park co-creator Matt Stone said Hayes was upset since the show had recently heaped scorn on the Church of Scientology, which the singer passionately believes in, "In ten years and over 150 episodes of 'South Park,' Isaac never had a problem with the show making fun of Christians, Muslim, Mormons or Jews.

He got a sudden case of religious sensitivity when it was his religion featured on the show," Stone said in a statement yesterday. "Of course we will release Isaac from his contract, and we wish him well." Last November South Park had lampooned Scientology and its celebrated followers like Tom Cruise and John Travolta in an episode named “Trapped in the Closet.”

Hayes was apparently upset with this portrayal. The 63-year-old singer explained his departure from the show in a statement saying, “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. Religious beliefs are sacred to people, and at all times should be respected and honored. As a civil rights activist of the past 40 years, I cannot support a show that disrespects those beliefs and practices.”

Stone responded sharply to this statement. He said Hayes never had a problem cashing the cheques after poking fun at Christians, "He wants a different standard for religions other than his own, and to me, that is where intolerance and bigotry begin," Stone was quoted as telling the Associated Press.