Jack Black’s band cancels tour after backlash to bandmate’s comment on Trump assassination attempt
By Jack Guy, CNN
(CNN) — Jack Black’s comedy rock band Tenacious D has canceled its remaining tour dates after band member Kyle Gass sparked a backlash with an apparent joke about Saturday’s assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump.
Footage posted on social media from the band’s concert in Sydney on Sunday showed Black presenting Gass with a birthday cake onstage and telling him to “make a wish.”
Gass responded: “Don’t miss Trump next time.”
The exchange prompted a call from one Australian lawmaker for the band to be deported from the country.
In a statement to CNN on Tuesday, Black said he was “blindsided by what was said at the show.”
“I would never condone hate speech or encourage political violence in any form,” he added. “After much reflection, I no longer feel it is appropriate to continue the Tenacious D tour, and all future creative plans are on hold. I am grateful to the fans for their support and understanding.”
Gass apologized for the comment in a post on Instagram on Tuesday.
“The line I improvised onstage Sunday night in Sydney was highly inappropriate, dangerous and a terrible mistake. I don’t condone violence of any kind, in any form, against anyone,” wrote Gass.
“What happened was a tragedy, and I’m incredibly sorry for my severe lack of judgement. I profoundly apologize to those I’ve let down and truly regret any pain I’ve caused.”
Gass has since been dropped by his Hollywood talent representative. His agent, Michael Greene of Greene Talent, told CNN that he has parted ways with Gass, but he did not provide additional comment.
Band members Black and Gass had been due to play in the city of Newcastle, New South Wales, on Tuesday, but promoter Frontier Touring announced that the show had been “postponed” in an Instagram post earlier on Tuesday.
Tenacious D was scheduled to perform in Brisbane on Thursday, before heading to Melbourne and Adelaide, and then onto New Zealand and the US.
Backlash
While some commenters interpreted the exchange as a joke, Australian senator Ralph Babet said that the pair “should be immediately removed from the country” in a statement posted on X.
“To advocate and or wish for the assassination of a President is egregious, disgusting, filthy, evil, and not acceptable in any way, shape or form,” said Babet. “This was not a joke, he was deadly serious when he wished for the death of the President.”
“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,” Babet said on Tuesday.
“Anything less than a deportation is an endorsement of the shooting and the attempted assassination of Donald J Trump,” he said.
Australian radio host Kyle Sandilands also criticized the band.
“I will not be participating in any future Tenacious D interviews,” he said. Tenacious D have previously appeared on the Kyle & Jackie O “In the Morning” show on KIIS radio.
On Saturday, US President Joe Biden condemned political violence in the wake of the shooting.
“There is no place in America for this kind of violence – it’s sick, it’s sick, it’s one of the reasons why we have to unite this country,” Biden told reporters.
“We cannot allow for this to be happening. We cannot be like this. We cannot condone this.”
This story has been updated.
CNN’s Elizabeth Wagmeister contributed to this story.
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