Actually, South Park’s Chef should be saying “Goodbye, children” as Isaac Hayes, the legendary soul man who has been the voice of the character on the iconoclastic cartoon from the beginning, has quit the show due to religious concerns.
Hayes, one of the many celebrity members of the Church of Scientology, apparently took umbrage with having his religion skewered during a November episode (poking fun at other notable Scientologists like John Travolta and Tom Cruise.)
“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," Hayes is quoted as saying.
South Park co-creator Matt Stone dismisses that explanation. "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."
Guess it’s not so funny when your ox is being gored, is it Isaac?
3 comments:
Yea, but to be such an ox gorer for A DECADE... I'm still waiting for them to laugh. Thank goodness he didn't ask us to take this seriously on April Fool's Day.
South Park pokes fun at everyone-- I don't believe any one religion, person, or lifestyle is safe from their ironic humour. It's a fairly well balanced show that includes everyone from Jesus to Satan. Most every episode has some person or situation that we've all encountered, had an impression of or pictured another in a similar way as they depicted. That's why I keep watching-- umkay?
Before this came up, Hayes was quoted as saying that the South Park creators were "equal-opportunity offenders. Don't be offended by it. If you take it too seriously, you have problems." A pity that he didn't heed his own advice but SP will soldier without him just fine.
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