Kyle Gass sparked an outcry with a comment on stage about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump.
Jack Black announced on Instagram that he's cancelled the rest of the Tenacious D world tour and placed future projects on hiatus.
This happened after his bandmate Kyle Gass sparked controversy by commenting on the recent Donald Trump assassination attempt.
At their recent Sydney show, Kyle Gass was given a birthday cake and asked to make a wish for his 64th birthday, to which he said "Don't miss Trump next time."
In his later statement, Black said he was "blindsided" by his bandmate's comment and condemned any calls for political violence.
Thankfully, it's not the commentary I was afraid he'd offered. JB sounds spineless in this, it was a joke and an honest expression of the very real existential fear people feel towards Trump rule.
I fucking hate this. Trump gets on mic everyday to wish death on some innocent groups of people but we're fucking forbidden from joking about it towards him?
Edit: I hope everyone who downvotes me gets very peacefully and nonviolently re-educated.
I think it's complicated a bit by the fact that this was said on stage at one of their shows. I think canceling the tour is a gross overreaction, but with the current political climate (even ignoring the assassination attempt) I can understand some hesitancy to proceed if anyone is going to be associating them with calls for political violence.
All that said... based birthday wish, fully agree with Gass's joke.
I was hoping the "excitement" of almost being killed would have lead to a heart attack, but who am I kidding? This is The Worst Timeline™ everything goes to shit and the absolute worst of us live forever and get everything they want...
To be honest. I think all famous people right now are preparing for the real possibility of a fascist dictatorship in america very soon.
They are trying to stay off of Trump's assassination list. If they stay in the mode of "we condemn violence towards trump" then trumps ego doesn't get hurt by them and they end up having a mysterious heart attack, drug overdose, or 3 in the back of the head "suicide"
Yeah, this guy (Trump) vahemently opposed the largest American protest in our history. The idealogy he opposed was simply "black lives matter". He and his cronies vilified the entire movement by labeling the movement "Antifa", and making it synonomus with terrorists looking to destroy America.
He gassed his way through the middle of protesters and the very clergy of a church he visited to hold a Bible upside down, and later re-tweet a video about a golfer yelling "white power". These are fascist actions, and all while theoretically attacking "Antifa".
And now we're never supposed to even JOKE about him dying?
I feel like I'm through the fucking looking glass. Trump has called for violence on many individuals/groups, led a goddamn insurrection in which people died, and will certainly be responsible for more bloodshed elected or not, but we're supposed to play this stupid as decency game because he was shot? I lost all respect for Jack Black today. Must be nice to afford this decency bullshit. He won't be put in a camp if these fascists succeed.
Exactly. This wasn't an attempt on your run of the mill republican shitbag. This man is a real fucking threat and so are all of his supporters/followers.
I feel like it's just more of that corporate fence sitting. It's just extra strange and off putting when it's coming an individual versus your average soulless company.
We feel like we have relationships with entertainers, and most of the time we feel they represent - well, something other than corporate fence sitting. Being reminded they’re a product more than a person really sucks the air out of the room.
To play devils advocate, a comment like that has the potential to put you in the crosshairs of one of these nut jobs the FBI/DHS has told everyone to be on the look out for. There was a large uptick in these domestic terrorist groups calling for retaliation (even though the guy was a Republican), but everyone on the Right has intentionally not mentioned his political affiliation and just said things about the "radical left" just pouring gas on the fire.
Basically this. Even if they wanted to continue the tour, Gass just massively increased the chance of another mass shooting by some nut job out to get revenge. If that had really happened, it would've completely sunk everyone involved and people would be claiming that they were the ones that invited the catastrophe.
That's... pretty fair. It's easy to say things online, but Gass just made things very hard for concert security. How hard would it be for a right winger to sneak a gun into a concert and get close to the stage?
That's a fair take. I've been very frustrated with the respectability politics this week and it might be a bit unfair to him, as he isn't a political figure, but an entertainer who didn't initially choose to say anything. I can't say I'd throw my boy under the bus like that, but I'm not him.
I think the shitty thing is that for someone who was supposedly "blindsided" by what Gass said, he was chuckling at it.
This is either Jack Black throwing his bandmate under the bus because he otherwise would have been pulled from future movie projects, or they've received more than enough hateful comments and death threats from Trump supporters that they've been spooked into cancelling the tour for safety reasons.
This is a strange take to me. Nervous laughter is, famously, a thing. You can simultaneously be surprised by something that was said, not actually support it, but still laugh. Especially when you're in the middle of a show, literally on a stage, in front of thousands of people.
Sincerely I am baffled at the take most comments have on this... Does this mean that because trump is a fucking fascist piece of shit that calls for violence against anyone he doesn't like we have the right to call for violence against him? Just because trump is a disgusting waste of biological matter that rapes kids do we have the right to rape his kids? What the fuck is with all these comments calling coward to jack black for pointing out how out of place is such a thing to say... It's a joke that I could do, in a group of close friends, that I know how they will take it. I'm pretty sure jack black would have found it funny in private. But in the middle of a show? Do we really need to remind people that calling for violence is not OK? Yeah we could take his comment as a joke... But what if some people in the audience are unhinged enough to take it seriously? The comment was definitely out of place. Freedom of speech has limits, and his comment is very much crossing the limit.
Look, I'm not going to lie, if I hear trump drops dead randomly tomorrow I wouldn't feel particularly sad (or at all) but I wouldn't ask for him to be assassinated or call for terrorism against republicans no matter how wrong I think they are and how dangerous they can be. What the fuck... there's so many people here hoping for a fucking asshole to be assassinated it's kinda scary even. That's not the solution against trump or republicans...
I guess we'll see how you feel when trumps supreme court sanctioned death squads of deputized gravy seals are murdering and raping in your neighborhood.
You lost all respect for Jack Black because his career was worth more to him than one extremely shortsighted comment that he didn't even choose to make himself?
Your point is apparently that anyone who doesn't stand proudly by "good" assassinations is a piece of shit?
Trump getting shot has really shined a light onto the Lemmy audience. For fucks sake within 20 minutes every other comment written about it was a stupid conspiracy theory about it.
Now people are saying shit like you did and getting upvoted for it. I guess I won't be here much longer.
Well said. Jack Black is the fun guy making fun music. He's obviously not pro-Trump but he's a professional - I don't blame him for not wanting to be associated with comments like that for the time being.
I'm a little disappointed with the phrasing of the announcement but there's unfortunately a high chance Trump will be president and he's pretty outspoken about getting rid of his critics.
This isn't anything new. There's a whole lot of people on the Fediverse who throw the word Fascist around willy nilly but who will happily make use of Fascist rethoric in regards to those who they see as political enemies.
They seem to think that the bad thing about Fascism isn't the authoritarianism, political violence, censorship, etc, but the fact it's a "right wing" government behind those - those would all be perfectly justifiable means to an end in the name of a left wing movement.
I see this happening more in american politics than over here, and I think it's in part a lack of knowledge of history, but also never having had an actual fascist regime in the country's recent history. My parents were tortured by the political police. I have a bunch of family who lived under an actual Fascist regime, and colleagues from other countries with a recent history similar to mine, and I notice that people in general, even in the far left, are way more careful about how they use the word Fascist. American internet "leftists" - which I put in quotes because many don't seem to actually hold any left wing views - love LARPing about living under fascism and that somehow excusing every thing they claim Fascism is bad for - against their political enemies.
Jack Black is trying to use his massive A-list star power to get Biden elected, something that will actually help people. Kyle Gass made an offhanded joke that could jeopardize that. So Jack Black needs to distance himself, and I'll bet you money Kyle Gass agrees with him.
It's an impossible situation to be in, but I kind of agree with Jack Black's move on this. He can do more good as a Hollywood A-lister for Biden than he can as an "edgy" rock star with a guy nobody's ever heard of.
The disrespect to the Gass man is ridiculous. Honestly Tenacious D comes from the same era of ridiculousness that gave rise to Borat, and I don't see why Kyle shouldn't be given the same leeway to say wild ass shit that Cohen did.
Yeah... pointing to the Zionist who just got canceled For being sexually inappropriate on set and to defend himself released a video of himself being sexually inappropriate on set isn't the defense you think it is. Even his wife left him.
And no offense to the gas man. I'm a 35-year-old white guy. I've been in love with the gas man for two decades now. But be honest with yourself, Most people don't know about Tenacious D. The second biggest category think of Tenacious D as Jack Black's band with that guy. That doesn't really compete with Bowser from Mario levels of fame.
we're so fucking high right now we can't see the people below being eaten alive and actual Nazi flags being flown to scare people from voting. but hey, it's cooler up here.
I really fucking hate the constant “we go high” shit.
The guy that took a shot at Trump was a Republican. And the guy who would have inevitably driven a car-sized fertilizer bomb into a crowd of Tenacious D fans would also be a Republican.
This isn't "going high", its self-preservation. We live in a fascist country swarming with fascist cops and fascist vigilantes, and we need to fucking act like it. Every concert going forward would have had insane security costs because of this one off-handed remark.
Well, seeing as going low does nothing but exacerbate this whole "us vs. them" mentality we have right now, which is how we're stuck in this situation in the first place... maybe get the fuck over it?
Recently had to take a trip to the USA for work and it felt surreal... all the posters of whatever celebrity with captions like "XYZ wants you to stop littering" or "Such-and-Such only use Colgate". It felt like a brain washing operation for toddlers (and this was at the airport)
Nobody needs anything but to have access to the most famous people in the world, the most money in the world, and the biggest markets in the world, and not put them all together is just bad business.
I really hope this is just PR shit and Jack Black isnt ending a friendship with a longterm friend over an edgy joke, cause like man, I know he's a celebrity, but I had a lot of respect for him up until this point
If I was about to go on tour with my best friend and he said something stupid that put us in danger from real life lunatics with guns, I'd fucking cancel the tour too because I cared about us both and our relationship. Besides, if you can't tell your friends they're wrong when they're wrong, they're not really your friend. This isn't necessarily the act of betrayal you're making it out to be.
I'm betting that making this statement publicly makes it easier to break the tour contracts, rather than backing out of the tour without saying why.
That part I understand, its the "put future projects on haitus" I'm commenting about. Although I guess I gave more detail in my other comment than I did this one so fair play
And doesn't this go both ways? One of my favorite sayings is: a friend is someone who when you've made a fool of yourself, doesn't think you've done a permanent job of it. Perhaps Jack Black could forgive his best friend and move along. Perhaps make a joint statement at the next event.
Just the other day, I looked at him with his shaggy ass beard, half done up bright shirt and too large shorts singing whatever the fuck and thought to myself:
"I have mad respect for jack black, That is a man that truly does not give a fuck. I should try and be more like him"
And then this reaction comes out and all that is gone and I'm reminded that I'm a terrible judge of character.
Jack did a fundraiser for Biden. I suspect he's just toeing the Dem line on this one. Doesn't really want to see "Democrat fundraiser calls for death of Trump" splashed across the news.
Lede feels like it only exists for that expression, unless you're in journalism. The biggest irony is it's actually a 1950s alteration of lead, but the expression came out of journalism so here we are.
From a purely practical perspective, it immediately balloons the security costs of the tour through the end of the year. Black was smart to cancel the tour and probably saved a few dozen lives in the process, giving how trigger happy Trump's base has proven itself to be.
Maybe. It seems like a bit of an overreaction to me, and I really don't like the idea that we can't say mean things about their god emperor because they'll get mad and be violent. Has Muslim and Mohammed vibes.
Damn. It's gotta be stressful as a public figure toeing the line between basic decency and a desire to not get investigated by the S(ecret) S(ervice). Can't say I blame him for wanting to distance himself from that type of commentary
As somebody with experience being on tour and playing shows every night and having a mic in front of you. Maybe a little toasted on stage as well. You tend to say things that you normally wouldn't. High energy, adrenaline, trying to keep the crowd entertained and think on your toes. You can say things right as they come to you without full consideration.
My guess is, that this will be the outcome of all of this. An apology along the lines of what you just mentioned, and a "back to reality call". At least I hope so
No matter our politics, hopefully we can all agree with JB about not wanting to get shot by reactionary Christofascist radicals. I assume Black and Gass's politics are pretty well aligned with each other, and Gass didn't say anything a lot of people aren't also feeling. But you can't say that shit on stage in front of thousands of amped up fans. --not because it's wrong to say or because it's not politically correct or even because it's controversial. You can't say that shit because some of the people in the audience are unhinged and have already been radicalized by the Right.
Take a stand for the First Amendment, and take a stand against censorship, sure--but while you're standing, be prepared to duck.
I don't blame any public figure for not wanting to expose themselves to an outsized risk of violence. That risk is largely Trump's fault, but notice how I'm blaming him from somewhere other than an elevated, well lit platform in front of a room full of strangers on drugs.
"Don't take a stand against fascism, because a fascist might get angry" 🙄
And I guess if you're part of a group already being targeted by angry fascists, it'd be something like "why didn't you warn us about fascism sooner?"..
I think it’s more like “don’t publicly stand for political violence towards fascists because their base is unhinged and you bring the violence on yourself”. Also, the violence has given the fascists power. Right now, the dems defense has to be damage control. I know many people wish Trump had been taken out (especially by another republican) but it didn’t happen, most likely won’t now, and dems need to put on a “we don’t condone violence” face so they can maybe try to win.
Nah, Xhieron has a point. You don't want to piss off a radicalized group of gun-toting rednecks. All it takes is one extremist right-wing nutjob and a loaded firearm to end your life.
I mean a 20 year old incel came within inches of killing Trump at a rally, and unlike Donald, Tenacious D and their crew do not have the luxury of secret service protection.
I think standing up to fascism is different from putting yourself on a stage in front of potential cult members looking for retaliation. The guy is a comedian/actor/musician, he's not looking to take a bullet from some unhinged wacko to somehow prove ... fascism bad?
How many here talking shit are planning to do a soapbox tour of the US calling for Trump's death? Just putting yourself out in front of a crowd of potentially unhinged folks, unarmed, to try and prove some kind of point.
its one thing to willingly make yourself a target, but another to put your friends in the crossfire without their consent. Not just Jack but their crew, fans, venue staff, etc
"don't invoke violence in an emotionally charged environment with thousands of people, especially when it puts your friends and coworkers in the crossfire."
Jack is a Coward. I stand with Kyle. Remember, whenever someone calls for violence, that the head of project 25 said "We are in the midst of a second American revolution., which will remain bloodless, should the left choose it to be."
That sucks, I hadn't had the chance to see them before, but I got tickets for a show they're having near me in a few months. I guess I need to see what getting a refund looks like.
Don't you see? He's the man! Let me hear you applaud! He is more than a man, he's a shiny golden god! ...
He. Is going. To kick your fucking ass! And! You know, his name is Kyle Gass! Rocking and fucking rolling and fucking rocking and fucking rolling and fucking (Jack Black scatting noises)
Most of the western world fought back against the Nazis in WWII for the very reason that fascism is deeply hostile to a healthy democracy and a free society.
Kyle was right: we didn’t teach our soldiers to miss back then, so there is no excuse to miss now.
This is why I blocked lemmy.ml, along with hexbear.net and lemmygrad.ml - too bad those user blocks are so ineffective and still show every comment from every user from there.