Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Chef Silenced

Soul singer Isaac Hayes, the voice of Chef on the cartoon show South Park has opted out of his contract with the show. The producers and creators of the show, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, have agreed to not enforce the contract with Hayes.

That means no lawsuits.

Through his spokesman Hayes issued a statement in New York which said, "There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry toward religious beliefs and others begins."

Hayes, age 63, has been a follower of the Church of Scientology for the past 14 years. He sees the show's parody of religion as part of a "growing insensitivity toward personal spiritual beliefs" in the media, including the recent controversy over the depiction of Mohammed in the Danish cartoons.

So, after 10 seasons and that time of paychecks and exposure, Hayes is now offended by the crude and rude nature of the show. Nothing is sacred with South Park and the creators make no bones about it.

And, yes, they did a show last fall that poked fun at Scientology and celebs like Tom Cruise that are strident followers.

Hayes made a big splash in the 1970's with the soundtrack of the movie, "Shaft" and the theme song is forever linked to him. I think that's what he gave Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

Ah, irony.

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