The rock duo Tenacious D, which includes Jack Black and Kyle Gass, delivered a controversial joke about former president Donald Trump. The joke appears to have been delivered by Gass while the two were performing on stage in Sydney just hours after an assassination on Trump was attempted. The reaction to that joke has prompted Black to cancel the Tenacious D tour.
As shared by Yahoo, Black presented Gass on the stage “with a birthday cake during their performance at the ICC Sydney Theatre.” The outlet adds that Black told Gass to “make a wish.” In response, Gass blows out the candles, and then makes his joke.
Naturally, the crowd had very divided responses, with Gass having delivered the following joke:
“Don’t miss Trump next time.”
I used to love @tenaciousd and thought Jack Black was funny. None of them or their music/movies will ever be played in our home again. Ever. Sickening. Not funny and done in a foreign country is even worse. If you think it’s OK, unfollow and block me. pic.twitter.com/2KG2uzUKEY
— Chris Loesch (@ChrisLoesch) July 15, 2024
One audience member shared their experience at the event with the outlet:
“You could hear a couple of ‘oohhs’ — like too soon sort of vibes — but the vast majority was laughter,” the audience member shared.
The joke caused a considerable amount of backlash on social media, prompting Kyle Gass to release an apology, saying:
“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. What happened was a tragedy, and I’m incredibly sorry for my severe lack of judgment. I profoundly apologize to those I’ve let down and truly regret any pain I’ve caused.”
The reaction has also prompted Jack Black to cancel the rest of the Tenacious D tour:
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For now, social media users are doing their best to discuss the joke made by Gass and whether or not such a statement should be considered appropriate. Especially when current US President Joe Biden made his own statement on the matter:
“We can’t allow this violence to be normalized. The political rhetoric in this country has gotten very heated. It’s time to cool it down,” Biden stated. “We all have a responsibility to do this.”
Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates regarding Tenacious D and the status of former president Donald Trump as we have them. Trump survived the assassination attempt with his only notable injury being a bloody ear.
At the rally he was speaking at, however, one crowd member was killed and another injured. It’s no surprise, then, that some reactions to the aforementioned joke is receiving unhappy responses.