 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". In late 2007, reports emerged claiming that Hayes was in no condition to stay, because of a stroke he suffered in January. According to a Fox News article, Hayes' agent Christina Kimball, herself a practicing Scientologist, was the source of the statements that Hayes quit South Park. 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." 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, burned, impaled, shot, and mauled at the end of the episode.
