Jack Black’s Tenacious D draws backlash: “Don’t miss Trump next time”
The Los Angeles duo Tenacious D, made up of Jack Black and Kyle Gass, have a certain reputation within the rock world. Often reduced merely to a comedy outfit, the band have long since been outspoken about their political views, often to their detriment. Last week, the group faced huge backlash after apparently making light of a recent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
Partway through their tour of Australia, Black and Gass played a show at ICC Theatre in Sydney. The show coincided with the 64th birthday of Kyle Gass, who was presented with a cake by Jack Black along with a robot and told to make a wish at one point during the performance. Gass then blew out the candles on the cake and wished, “Don’t miss Trump next time”.
With that quote, the musician referred to the attempted assassination of the Republican Party nominee, which occurred only the day before Tenacious D played in Sydney. At a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, a 20-year-old gunman fired eight rounds, killing a spectator, seriously injuring multiple others, and wounding Donald Trump in the ear.
As you might expect, Gass’ comments about the shooting caused a not-insignificant level of controversy. Although the audience at the show could be heard laughing in response to the comments, multiple Australian politicians have called on the Prime Minister to deport the comedy rock duo because of their divisive statement.
Australian senator Ralph Babet released a statement saying, “I call on the prime minister Anthony Albanese to join me in denouncing Tenacious D, Jack Black and band member Kyle Gass, and I call on the immigration minister Andrew Giles to revoke their visas and deport them immediately,” adding, “Anything less than a deportation is an endorsement of the shooting and the attempted assassination of Donald J Trump.”
Following those comments, the group’s scheduled performance in Newcastle, New South Wales, this evening has been cancelled. At the time of writing, it is unclear whether the rest of the Tenacious D dates due to take place in Australia this month will go ahead or how it will affect the various US tour dates scheduled for Autumn – including one performance in Pennsylvania, not too far from where the shooting took place.
Tenacious D have not yet commented upon the controversy surrounding Gass’ comments or the cancellation of their scheduled performance in Newcastle.
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