Isaac Hayes III Says His Father Did Not Quit South Park

Back in 2005 soul icon, Isaac Hayes, famously quit his voice role on the popular animated series, 'South Park,' after an episode called 'Trapped in the Closet' satirized his religion, Scientology. 

Isaac Hayes' son, Isaac Hayes III, claims his father did NOT resign from South Park, the Church of Scientology did it for him...

 

From Cracked 

Getting to your dad’s departure from the show, what was his reaction to “Trapped in the Closet?”

So, initially, the episode came out in November, and there was no reaction. There wasn’t any upswell about that episode at all. It really wasn’t a big deal at the time. That January, in 2006, my dad had a stroke, and during the course of his recovery, I think that March, they re-aired the episode. When it re-aired, that’s when Scientology got upset.

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. 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.

When did he start touring again?

Probably less than a year afterwards. Because South Park was such a breadwinner. It was a great show, and he was making money. So now that you don’t have this income stream anymore, you have to find other ways to make income. Touring is a way to do that.

Imagine you walk away from a gig and all you got to do is sit in front of a mic and talk. And to go back on the road and start learning how to play and sing and perform and travel and stay up late and flights and all that kind of stuff. I took issue with that.

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.

My father was married at the time, so his wife was there. We entrusted her, and she was fine. She was involved in Scientology, I think. I can’t say that she was all the way — I won’t say that she was involved — but I know that she was just there for him. So I felt comfortable that his wife was around. At least somebody that has his best interest in mind was around. But, by no means those decisions were made on his own.

He died in August 2008. Do you think him getting back on the road so quickly is what accelerated—

Yes. 100 percent.

And part of what I recall from Scientology is, they weren’t big on modern medicine. They were more into holistic things. So even the medication that he was probably supposed to be taking, he probably wasn’t taking. All of those factors, you know what I’m saying?

Which is why you have to be the biggest advocate for your health. My father was very big on holistic medicine and things like that, but at the same time, you have to be real and understand the science of what’s going on — whether it could be your blood pressure, your heart, your kidneys. To this day, I think this had a major effect on me and how I view my health.

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