Jack Black has promised that Tenacious D will “be back” after the controversy that followed bandmate Kyle Gass’ Donald Trump comments last month.
Black made the decision to cancel the rest of the duo’s tour after Gass joked about the assassination attempt on Trump. He made the comments during their show at the ICC Sydney Theater on July 14 – a day after Trump was shot in his ear at a campaign rally.
At the show, a birthday cake was brought out for Gass’ 64th birthday, and Black told Gass to make a wish. He joked, “Don’t miss Trump next time.” Two days later, Black said that he was “blindsided” by the comment and that he did not condone hate speech or political violence. Cancelling the remainder of their ‘Spicy Meatball’ tour, he said that the duo’s “creative plans are on hold”.
Gass apologised on Instagram shortly after, calling his words “highly inappropriate, dangerous and a terrible mistake”, but deleted the apology later that week.
When asked about the Tenacious D situation, Black told Variety yesterday (August 6), “We need to take a break. Everybody needs a break sometime. And we’ll be back.”
He also said that he’s still friends with Gass, and that they’ve spoken since the controversy. “Yeah, we’re friends. That hasn’t changed,” he said. “These things take time sometimes… And we’ll be back when it feels right.”
Among the people criticising Gass’ remarks at the show last month was Australian federal senator Ralph Babet, who went as far as to call for the duo’s deportation from the country.
He wrote in a statement, “I condemn in the strongest possible way the call to political violence by Tenacious D in Sydney on Sunday. 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. This was not a joke, he was deadly serious when he wished for the death of the President.”
Meanwhile, Gass was also dropped by his agent, with Michael Greene of Greene & Associates Talent Agency no longer representing him.
At present, Black is promoting the movie Borderlands, a sci-fi action comedy, in which he voices Claptrap, a robot who features in the video game series the movie is based on. The movie, which also features the likes of Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart and Jamie Lee Curtis, is out in the US on Friday (August 9).
And earlier this month, Dave Grohl – a friend and collaborator of Black and Gass – covered the Tenacious D song ‘Tribute’, which he played the drums on himself, at a Foo Fighters show in Denver, Colorado.
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