"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," the 63-year-old soul singer said in a statement.
"Religious beliefs are sacred to people, and at all times should be respected and honored," he continued, never mentioning the Scientology episode, but citing the recent controversy over cartoon depictions of the prophet Muhammad. "As a civil-rights activist of the past 40 years, I cannot support a show that disrespects those beliefs and practices."
In an interview with the Associated Press, "South Park" co-creator Matt Stone responded sharply, saying, "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."
He said he and co-creator Trey Parker "never heard a peep out of Isaac in any way until we did Scientology. He wants a different standard for religions other than his own, and to me, that is where intolerance and bigotry begin."
In a previous interview published by ContactMusic.com, Parker said they avoided animated shows about Scientology for years because they didn't wish to upset Hayes, who gained fame in the 1970s with his song, "Shaft," from the movie of the same name.
"To be honest, what kept us from doing it before was Isaac Hayes. We knew he was a Scientologist and he's an awesome guy. We're like, 'Let's just avoid that for now,'" Parker said. "Finally, we just had to tell Isaac, 'Dude, we totally love working with you, and this is nothing personal, it's just we're South Park, and if we don't do this, we're belittling everything else we've ripped on.'"
The episode that focused on Scientology originally aired on Comedy Central in November, and did not include Hayes' name in the end credits.
It featured a cartoon boy on the show being mistaken for L. Ron Hubbard, the science-fiction writer who founded the religion. A portion of the show had Scientologists explaining the basic beliefs of the faith, including aliens populating the Earth, with a statement that flashed on screen reading, "This is what Scientologists actually believe."
The faith has been featured prominently in the media in recent years, with high-profile names including John Travolta, Tom Cruise and Fox News Channel host Greta Van Susteren members.
"South Park" became an instant hit after its original animated short in the late 1990s depicted Jesus in a fierce battle against Santa Claus over the meaning of Christmas.
Read this earlier. It is so true that Hayes is leaving because of the Scientoligist stuff. That is so f'n lame. "Bigger, Longer & Uncut" was such a rip on Catholicisim but he was cool with it. After the Cruise bashing episode he gets a conscience? F that. I can't wait until they write out Chef with due malice.
Yeah, it's F'ed up, that's what it is. Catholicism and Christianity have been ripped to pieces over and over again by South Park... and they are almost as much a load of crap as Scientology, so why is this "going too far"?
I'm sorry, but you've got to appreciate that the South Park dudes don't pick and choose who they take the micky out of. And, honestly, the loss of Chef is worth it - Trapped In The Closet was an all time classic episode!
"I'm for it so we can put Nuclear power plants up there, and then beam the power back to earth on a laser beam." ~ Whidden
Gabo, as always I totally agree. Man, you gotta take the lumps as much as you give them. Personally, I think the Scientologist Church made influenced him, right?
South Park declares war on Tom Cruise
Cartoon's parody of Scientology is taken off air, prompting accusations of censorship
By David Usborne
Published: 19 March 2006
He has defeated enemy fighter pilots and alien forces. But now Tom Cruise faces his most dangerous foe ever: a foul-mouthed foursome of pre-teens.
If that seems sort of humiliating, wait for the rest. While the children are no more real than the mechanical invaders in War of the Worlds, Cruise's campaign to crush them is far from fictional. It's Tom Cruise vs South Park. And it promises to be fun.
South Park is the less than respectful television animation series that has sustained its popularity for a decade because of its fearless satirising of anyone and everyone. It drew headlines early last week, however, when musician Isaac Hayes, who since 1997 has been the voice of Chef, suddenly upped and left in a huff.
Hayes declared that South Park, which follows the hell-raising of the four kids, had gone too far in its lampooning of religion. Specifically, he was cross about its recent mocking of the Church of Scientology. Hayes is a Scientologist. So is Cruise.
The departure of Hayes created some publicity for the show and its creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone. But now things are even more interesting. Comedy Central, the channel that broadcasts it in the US, was scheduled to air a repeat of the episode that had so upset Hayes on Wednesday night. But then, suddenly, it didn't.
South Park fans cried censorship. Why had Comedy Central yanked the episode? They now think they have the answer: Tom Cruise is the culprit. According to several Hollywood websites, he used his considerable Tinseltown influence to muzzle the show.
Parker and Stone are not taking this lying down. "So, Scientology, you may have won THIS battle, but the million-year war for earth has just begun!" the two said in a statement that seemed to parody Scientology as science fiction. "Temporarily anozinizing our episode will NOT stop us from keeping Thetans forever trapped in your pitiful man-bodies. Curses and drat! You have obstructed us for now, but your feeble bid to save humanity will fail! Hail Xenu!!!"
But for the epic battle, Cruise has a secret weapon. It is alleged that he threatened to withdraw from any promotional activity for his next film, Mission: Impossible III, out on 5 May. The movie has been made by Paramount, which is owned by Viacom. And Viacom owns Comedy Central.
In the controversial episode, one of the characters, Stan, takes a Scientology test and scored so highly that disciples of the religion are crowding his home declaring him their new leader. And, wouldn't you know it, Cruise is there too, waiting in Stan's bedroom. He asks Stan what he thinks of his acting. Stan is not kind, and a deeply offended Cruise hides in the bedroom closet. Then the episode veers into the territory of Cruise's sexuality. Stan begs him to come out of the closet. About 40 times.
Everyone involved is denying everything, of course. Comedy Central says it pulled the episode so it could run two episodes featuring Chef as a tribute to Hayes. Paramount says Cruise never made threats. And Cruise, through a spokesman, said the same.
And no one believes a word of it. The Los Angeles Times dubbed the flap Closetgate. "For Stone and Parker, Closetgate will be the gift that keeps on giving," it said.
He has defeated enemy fighter pilots and alien forces. But now Tom Cruise faces his most dangerous foe ever: a foul-mouthed foursome of pre-teens.
If that seems sort of humiliating, wait for the rest. While the children are no more real than the mechanical invaders in War of the Worlds, Cruise's campaign to crush them is far from fictional. It's Tom Cruise vs South Park. And it promises to be fun.
South Park is the less than respectful television animation series that has sustained its popularity for a decade because of its fearless satirising of anyone and everyone. It drew headlines early last week, however, when musician Isaac Hayes, who since 1997 has been the voice of Chef, suddenly upped and left in a huff.
Hayes declared that South Park, which follows the hell-raising of the four kids, had gone too far in its lampooning of religion. Specifically, he was cross about its recent mocking of the Church of Scientology. Hayes is a Scientologist. So is Cruise.
The departure of Hayes created some publicity for the show and its creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone. But now things are even more interesting. Comedy Central, the channel that broadcasts it in the US, was scheduled to air a repeat of the episode that had so upset Hayes on Wednesday night. But then, suddenly, it didn't.
South Park fans cried censorship. Why had Comedy Central yanked the episode? They now think they have the answer: Tom Cruise is the culprit. According to several Hollywood websites, he used his considerable Tinseltown influence to muzzle the show.
Parker and Stone are not taking this lying down. "So, Scientology, you may have won THIS battle, but the million-year war for earth has just begun!" the two said in a statement that seemed to parody Scientology as science fiction. "Temporarily anozinizing our episode will NOT stop us from keeping Thetans forever trapped in your pitiful man-bodies. Curses and drat! You have obstructed us for now, but your feeble bid to save humanity will fail! Hail Xenu!!!"
But for the epic battle, Cruise has a secret weapon. It is alleged that he threatened to withdraw from any promotional activity for his next film, Mission: Impossible III, out on 5 May. The movie has been made by Paramount, which is owned by Viacom. And Viacom owns Comedy Central.
In the controversial episode, one of the characters, Stan, takes a Scientology test and scored so highly that disciples of the religion are crowding his home declaring him their new leader. And, wouldn't you know it, Cruise is there too, waiting in Stan's bedroom. He asks Stan what he thinks of his acting. Stan is not kind, and a deeply offended Cruise hides in the bedroom closet. Then the episode veers into the territory of Cruise's sexuality. Stan begs him to come out of the closet. About 40 times.
Everyone involved is denying everything, of course. Comedy Central says it pulled the episode so it could run two episodes featuring Chef as a tribute to Hayes. Paramount says Cruise never made threats. And Cruise, through a spokesman, said the same.
And no one believes a word of it. The Los Angeles Times dubbed the flap Closetgate. "For Stone and Parker, Closetgate will be the gift that keeps on giving," it said.
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But for the epic battle, Cruise has a secret weapon. It is alleged that he threatened to withdraw from any promotional activity for his next film, Mission: Impossible III, out on 5 May. The movie has been made by Paramount, which is owned by Viacom. And Viacom owns Comedy Central.
All Tom did was make people want to see the episode. It makes him look more like a controlling wack job. Scientologists piss me off! * said in a Cartman voice.
I boycott all Tom Cruise movies anyway. He gives money to their "church".
Hey, ain't got a problem with any religion more than any other, and Tom Cruise and John Travolta and whoever can give to any church or charity they want... but when it comes to outspoken wanks... seriously, it just seems that Scientology has a fair few too many.
What I want to know is why hasn't anyone who's ever interviewed Tom Cruise come out and asked "okay, so, Scientology, you like to talk about it, so give me your views on Xenu, the supreme lord who brought all those human souls here millions of years ago dumping them into a volcano...." and see what he says. Cause, seriously, there's no logical explanation for that BS.
"I'm for it so we can put Nuclear power plants up there, and then beam the power back to earth on a laser beam." ~ Whidden
Oh, he can be a part of a show that slams Jesus, makes fun of religions, has satan and Saddam getting in on in hell, ridicules homosexuals, supports (in a sense) drugs, and slams EVERYONE... but, once it's about HIS whack ass religion, he has a problem? Whatever.... I hope that Chef is found spanking the monkey, in the kitchen, and has delusions, picks up a meat cleaver, and takes his willy whacking pole and chops it off, and dies a slow death, from blood loss.
Yes, that's bad... but dang... get real. Hypocrite.
:::>^..^<::: ~*~The Journey is more important than the end or the start~*~ :::>^..^<:::
Kris, you'll notice that most of the episodes that ridicule homosexuals actually ridicule the homophobes a little more (though in the case of Mr Garrison, he's just an ********, I think). The guys who created the show are actually bisexual themselves.
But, yeah, freakin' hypocrite.
"I'm for it so we can put Nuclear power plants up there, and then beam the power back to earth on a laser beam." ~ Whidden
Oh, I know, Grant. I don't have a problem with what South Park does. I'm just saying that he was okay with slamming ANYONE, and EVERYONE, until his freak ass trib of scientologists got made fun of. Cash in those checks, until it hits your own little off the wall beliefs, eh?! JERK OFF!
:::>^..^<::: ~*~The Journey is more important than the end or the start~*~ :::>^..^<:::
03-14-2006 05:58 AM
Damn Sher, the kitten has claws this morning 
