Isaac Hayes' departure
On March 13, 2006 Hayes announced that he was quitting the show because of the series' treatment of religion, though he did not specifically mention Scientology in his statement.[16] In an interview on CNN's Showbiz Tonight, Hayes added he did not see the episode itself, but was told about it.[17] In a separate interview, he reportedly said regarding Parker and Stone, “'Guys, you have it all wrong. We're not like that. I know that's your thing, but get your information correct, because somebody might believe that shit, you know?' But I understand what they're doing. I told them to take a couple of Scientology courses, and understand what we do. [Laughs].”[18]
Responding to Hayes' departure, Stone asserted that "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." According to Stone, neither he nor Trey Parker had "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."[19] Stone commented that “In 10 years and over 150 episodes of South Park, Isaac never had a problem with the show making fun of Christians, Muslims, Mormons and Jews. He got a sudden case of religious sensitivity when it was his religion featured on the show. To bring the civil rights struggle into this is just a non sequitur. Of course we will release Isaac from his contract and we wish him well.”[20] According to a later commentary by Stone, prior to the episode's screening Hayes had asked the South Park creators to have Comedy Central pull the episode before it aired and not include it in the series DVD, which they refused.[21]
There were many conflicting stories as to the exact nature of Hayes' departure. Additional reasons given by Hayes ten months after the departure include "They didn't pay me enough," and "They weren't that nice."[22] In late 2007, reports emerged claiming that Hayes was in no condition to stay, because of a stroke he suffered in January.[23] According to a Fox News article, Hayes' agent Christina Kimball, herself a devout Scientologist, was the source of the statements that Hayes quit South Park.[24] Stone lent support to this view in a 2007 interview with Rolling Stone, commenting that “There are reports that Isaac had a stroke and Scientology quit the show for him, and I believe it... It was a brutal, up-close, personal thing with Isaac. If you look at the timeline, something doesn't add up.”[25] Due to the absence of Hayes, Chef was voiced in “The Return of Chef” using pre-recorded snippets of dialog from previous episodes. The character was written out of the series by being struck by lightning, impaled, shot, and mauled at the end of the episode.[26]