davebg 0 Posted March 17, 2006 HOLLYWOOD bully Tom Cruise got Comedy Central to cancel Wednesday night's cablecast of a controversial "South Park" episode about Scientology by warning that he'd refuse to promote "Mission Impossible 3," insiders say. Since Paramount is banking on "MI3" to rake in blockbuster profits this summer, and Paramount is owned by Viacom, which also owns Comedy Central, the tactic worked. The "South Park" episode, "Trapped in the Closet," pokes fun at Scientology and shows Cruise, John Travolta and R. Kelly (who is not a Scientologist, but has a song called "Trapped in the Closet") literally in a closet. The episode, which first aired last November, was set to rerun Wednesday night, but was mysteriously pulled at the last minute. Now, hollywoodinterrupted.com reports Cruise went straight to the top - to execs at Viacom - and warned he'd boycott the promotion for "MI3" unless the "South Park" episode was pulled. Series creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker have been told not to discuss the matter - to avoid embarrassing Cruise as they did Isaac Hayes last week when Hayes, also a Scientologist, quit his role as the voice of the Chef character. Hayes claimed he couldn't stand by while "South Park" made fun of religion, but Stone pointed out that Hayes had cashed plenty of checks while the show made fun of Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Stone hinted that Hayes was pressed to quit by his minders in the Church of Scientology. A rep for Comedy Central, asked if Cruise was responsible for the "Closet" episode being yanked, attributed it instead to Hayes' resignation, saying, "In light of the events of earlier this week, we wanted to give Chef an appropriate tribute by airing two episodes he is most known for." But TV insiders weren't buying that explanation. Now the question is whether Comedy Central will ever again air "Trapped in the Closet" and whether it will be included on the DVD of the show's ninth season. Cruise has a history of playing hardball. He is allegedly responsible for the missing sex scene his fiancée Katie Homes filmed (before she started dating Tom) in "Thank You for Smoking," which opens today. And who will ever forget the way Cruise shouted down Matt Lauer on the "Today" show when Lauer argued that some people have been helped by prescription drugs? http://www.nypost.com/gossip/pagesix/pagesix.htm Maybe given his jumping-on-the-couch-w/Oprah promotion for War of the Worlds the folks at Viacom should have told him to fock off. I was thinking about going to see this flick, just b/c of Phillip Seymour Hoffman (he plays the bad guy), but not any more. I seriously hate this high school drop-out midget. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phillybear 364 Posted March 17, 2006 Lame. They also have never re-aired the April Fool's Episode starring Terrance and Phillip, as they aired it instead of the conclusion of the Cartman's search for his dad cliffhanger. Tom Cruise is hella-gay. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Electric Mayhem 35 Posted March 17, 2006 The only thing worse than wacky religious people is wacky religious people that actually have power. What a freaking loser. A brainwashed embarrasment to himself and Hollywood. (can I say "freaking"?) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TimmySmith 2,782 Posted March 17, 2006 Cruise stop promoting himself?? What a ruse he is pulling. He is not capable of not promoting anything he does. Man I hope they call his bluff. Added to say that if Viacom pulled the show, the South Park creators would move the show to another network and have a field day with this one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chronic Husker 85 Posted March 17, 2006 Apparently, Jews don't run Hollywood. It's the Scientologists. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Electric Mayhem 35 Posted March 17, 2006 Just talked to a co-worker about this, he had a great idea: Parker and Stone should make a South Park movie that SPECIFICALLY targets Scientology and RIP IT TO SHREDS. Have them fund it themselves. Hell, I'd DONATE to that movie to have it made. (Can I say "hell"?) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davebg 0 Posted March 17, 2006 Parker and Stone should make a South Park movie that SPECIFICALLY targets Scientology and RIP IT TO SHREDS. Have them fund it themselves. Hell, I'd DONATE to that movie to have it made. Series creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker have been told not to discuss the matter - to avoid embarrassing Cruise as they did Isaac Hayes last week when Hayes, also a Scientologist, quit his role as the voice of the Chef character. As long as Matt & Trey maintain their imposed silence on this issue, they get branded as pu$$|es just like their corporate handlers at Viacom and Comedy Central. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FunkyMcCool 0 Posted March 17, 2006 Money > principles. Sickening, yes, but nothing new really. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
D'ohmer Simpson 0 Posted March 17, 2006 Uh, can we get back to what's really important here. Anyone have this missing Katie Holmes sex scene? (Can I say "sex scene"?) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
parrot 789 Posted March 17, 2006 For everyone who needed another reason to hate Tom Cruise. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davebg 0 Posted March 17, 2006 A rebuttal from Matt & Trey in variety...a nice start, but we need more. A repeat of the Scientology episode of 'South Park' was pulled by Comedy Central. The battle between "South Park""South Park" creators Trey ParkerTrey Parker and Matt StoneMatt Stone and Scientology is escalating. The dust-up gained steam last week when Isaac Hayes, a practicing Scientologist who has long been the voice of the character Chef, quit after objecting to a "South Park" episode called "Trapped in the Closet," which lampooned both the religion and Tom CruiseTom Cruise. The skirmish continued this week, when Comedy CentralComedy Central abruptly pulled a repeat of that episode that was scheduled to air Wednesday evening. Showing instead was another memorable segseg which featured Hayes's character, called "Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls." Blog reports pegged the mysterious episode switch to objections raised by Cruise, who, the reports stated, threatened to not promote "Mission: Impossible 3," the summer tentpole for ViacomViacom-owned Paramount. A spokesman for Cruise denied that Cruise had ever made such a threat. "He never said any such thing about 'Mission: Impossible 3," the spokesman said. While the "South Park" creators didn't directly comment on Comedy Central's decision to pull the episode, they issued an unusual statement to Daily Variety indicating the battle is not over. "So, Scientology, you may have won THIS battle, but the million-year war for earth has just begun! 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!!!" The duo signed the statement "Trey Parker and Matt Stone, servants of the dark lord Xenu." http://www.variety.com/VR1117939918.html Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
D'ohmer Simpson 0 Posted March 17, 2006 A rebuttal from Matt & Trey in variety...a nice start, but we need more. The battle between "South Park""South Park" creators Trey Parker Trey Parker and Matt Stone Matt Stone and Scientology is escalating. The dust-up gained steam last week when Isaac Hayes, a practicing Scientologist who has long been the voice of the character Chef, quit after objecting to a "South Park" episode called "Trapped in the Closet," which lampooned both the religion and Tom Cruise Tom Cruise. The skirmish continued this week, when Comedy Central Comedy Central abruptly pulled a repeat of that episode that was scheduled to air Wednesday evening. Showing instead was another memorable segseg which featured Hayes's character, called "Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls." This This article article is is hard hard to to read read. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Slruc 0 Posted March 17, 2006 But more importantly. How will they kill off chef? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cdub100 3,381 Posted March 17, 2006 When will people learn the worst way to keep people from watching something is to make a big fuss about it. Hell I've seen the episode and when they didn't show it on Wednesday I went and downloaded it. If they would of kept their mouth shut nobody would give a sh!t. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CantTouchThis 23 Posted March 18, 2006 Damn, talk about blowing something out of proportion. Cruise is an a-hole and always has been, but, i am suprised at Hayes quiting the show, but, i will let him slide on this one because he is cool. Will they have Barry White or someone play Chef now??? BTW, i agree, making a big fuss will cause more people to watch the show AND will cause the writers to just tear you up in future episodes, which more people will watch now. DAMN, Chef was my favorite character, that is what really sucks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Patriotsfatboy1 1,432 Posted March 18, 2006 Will they have Barry White play Chef now??? I think that this might be very difficult to accomplish http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_White He died in 2003 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ZeroTolerance 582 Posted March 18, 2006 In the illustrious words of Tool... "F*** L Ron Hubbard and f*** all his clones." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Reverend Cleophus James 0 Posted March 18, 2006 Screw You Guys, I'm Going Home! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
swandown 0 Posted March 20, 2006 A couple updates: 1. Hayes may not have voluntarily quit after all. Someone quit it for him. 2. Comedy Central has the Scientology episode scheduled for Wednesday night at 10 p.m. link Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GobbleDog 816 Posted March 21, 2006 I'm not a big South Park fan, but I did see the "In the Closet" show. I thought that show was about making fun of Scientoligy AND implying Cruise is gay ("Come out of the closet"). Is that right? I haven't heard anyone mention that part. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Electric Mayhem 35 Posted March 21, 2006 Updates (for those that don't know): Story Link Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
