Tuesday, March 14, 2006
A TIME WHEN SATIRE ENDS
Isaac Hayes has quit South Park, claiming the cartoon is intolerant and bigoted:
Outspoken Scientologist Isaac Hayes, an Oscar-winning singer heard by millions in recent years as the “Chef” character on “South Park,” has quit the cartoon four months after an episode spoofing Scientology.
"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."
Via Tom Pechinski. In other apparent intolerance news, the former editor of Britain’s Sunday Telegraph claims to have been removed over an allegedly Islamophobic article.