Tenacious D (Jack Black & Kyle Gass)

[femmegirly]

Shocked to see JB has thrown his 30 year friendship with KG away, over a stupid anti-Trump joke at their recent show.
They have an entire song (March) about Trump being in the KKK. Why is that deemed ok, but not the joke on stage?

If you don’t know, the ‘joke’ was KG being asked to make a wish when blowing out his birthday cake candles on stage. He said he hoped ‘next time they wouldn’t miss’ in reference to the Trump assassination attempt.

I am not a Trump supporter and yes, the ‘joke’ was obviously an impulse decision and ultimately not funny, but JB could have apologised in a way that still supported his friend. Instead of saying he was ‘blindsided’ and cancelling the tour and stopping working with KG.

The threat of JB being cancelled and not being bankable enough for his lame movie roles was obviously more important than posting an apology that doesn’t throw KB under the bus.

Not very rock n’ roll JB.

 

[SaLou]

I think he's just doing what he thinks he should to avoid getting targeted by nutty Trump supporters. Don't blame him in a way. But it's silly that should be the case.

 

[femmegirly]

Oh totally agree that they need to protect themselves by apologising. But he could have apologised in a different way that didn’t throw Kyle under the bus by emphasising that it was a joke and he didn’t actually mean it. It sounds like their friendship and working relationship is completely over, over a stupid joke. Which is sad.
---
I saw this on Reddit and it sums up the US right-wing reaction to this perfectly.

 

[Remotecontrol]

I’m not sure I’m getting that their friendship is over from that, unless there is something else I’ve missed. Just their working relationship is on a long pause.

 

[AllSeeingEye123]

Shocked to see JB has thrown his 30 year friendship with KG away, over a stupid anti-Trump joke at their recent show.
They have an entire song (March) about Trump being in the KKK. Why is that deemed ok, but not the joke on stage?

If you don’t know, the ‘joke’ was KG being asked to make a wish when blowing out his birthday cake candles on stage. He said he hoped ‘next time they wouldn’t miss’ in reference to the Trump assassination attempt.

I am not a Trump supporter and yes, the ‘joke’ was obviously an impulse decision and ultimately not funny, but JB could have apologised in a way that still supported his friend. Instead of saying he was ‘blindsided’ and cancelling the tour and stopping working with KG.

The threat of JB being cancelled and not being bankable enough for his lame movie roles was obviously more important than posting an apology that doesn’t throw KB under the bus.

Not very rock n’ roll JB.

Jack has done right. You don't joke about death and many a true thing has been said in jest. He simply can't be around someone upset that someone survived a terror attack.

 

[YeahBrackie]

I think it's really insincere of him to say he was "blindsided" by what was said, considering he literally laughed as soon as it was said, and seemed to find it genuinely funny. There was no shock, no awkward silence and no acknowledgement of it being inappropriate at the time. It doesn't even seem as though it occurred to him until the massive backlash started. He just saw it as a joke which he was very much involved in.

I'd have had more respect for him if he'd acknowledged that he laughed about it and saw it as a joke, and then, upon reflection, realised how inappropriate it was. Instead, it really does seem as though he's thrown Kyle under the bus and is trying to make it look as though he was instantly outraged and shocked by what he said, when that simply isn't the case. They've been friends for decades, and I think he's treated Kyle terribly here.

 

[ochebalboa]

Jack Black has threw his big mate under the bus to save his career

What an utter bleep

Kyle Gass was pathetic and cuntish for his comment about Trump. But an apology is all thats needed.

Never liked Jack Black even way back when

 

[Ennui]

I've never found Jack Black or Tenacious D funny but I don't think he should have thrown his friend under the bus.

The Dixie Chicks had more balls.

 

[femmegirly]

I think they’ve maybe had death threats hence the tour cancellation. They don’t want to put themselves or gig-goers in danger. But also maybe JB is under pressure to distance himself, by Disney or whatever family-friendly movies he lends his voice to these days. Although, their comedy/songs are hardly family-friendly so that kind of contradicts that theory.

After having thought about it today, I think that they’ve obviously talked about it and decided, under whatever pressure, to go with this route. I don’t actually see them falling out over this. I do hope that KG is ok though. He was in rehab not that long ago for drug issues. To go from being universally loved to having lots of hate directed towards him can’t be good for his mental health.

 

[femmegirly]

Kyle deleted his apology. Good for him.