Is someone pulling the strings for Chef?

The Scientology cult vs South Park show controvery is not going away. The story reported widely was that Isaac Hayes, who contributes the voice for the Chef character, quit the show in protest of an episode ridiculing the wacko sci fi cult. Then a rerun of the show was pulled allegedly under pressure from dingbat Tom Cruise.

But some questions have been raised whether or not Hayes actually resigned the show. Roger Friedman at Fox News says that Hayes had a minor stroke and was recuperating and had not resigned. Friedman says he spent time with Hayes after the show originally aired and he was not upset about it. And in early January, after the show had aired, he defended it and publicly discussed the show in question. Friedman writes: "That certainly begs the question of who issued the statement that Hayes was quitting "South Park" now because it mocked Scientology four months ago. If it wasn’t Hayes, then who would have done such a thing?"

Friedman notes: "But it’s hard to know anything since Hayes, like Katie Holmes, is constantly monitored by a Scientologist representative most of the time." These are not good people to with whom to get mixed up.

UPDATE: Friedman has posted more. He is adamant that Hayes DID NOT resign. He says that all business communication with Hayes goes through Christina Kimball who he says is "a devoted member of the Church of Scientology". I wonder if he meant demented? He says that Hayes is doing much better after his stroke and will soon be back on the air. If that proves to be the case it will be another black eye for the crazy cult. So I suspect they will be doing their best to stop him from returning.