Tenacious D's Kyle Gass Expresses Regret Over Trump Joke
Tenacious D's Kyle Gass told Rolling Stone on Jan. 21 that he feels 'terrible' about a July 2024 onstage joke referencing the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump, and the band remains on hiatus.
Overview
In an interview published Jan. 21, Kyle Gass told Rolling Stone he feels "terrible" about his July 2024 onstage joke about the assassination attempt on President Donald Trump and called it "terrible judgment."
Gass said "Don't miss Trump next time" at a Sydney Tenacious D show in July 2024, hours after a Butler, Pennsylvania rally shooting that grazed Trump's ear and killed one person, authorities said.
Jack Black said he was "blindsided" and put Tenacious D's tour and projects on hold, while Gass issued a July 2024 apology and was dropped by his agent, Rolling Stone reported.
The controversy halted Tenacious D's remaining 2024 tour dates and suspended future projects, with Gass and Black saying "we will be back" but announcing no new performances or timetable, Rolling Stone reported.
Gass told Rolling Stone he and Jack Black "hashed it out," said they remain friends, and offered no timetable for a Tenacious D return while both pledged the band will resume when it "feels right."
Analysis
Center-leaning sources present this coverage neutrally: they foreground primary source content — Gass's remorseful quotes and Black's distancing statement — and factual context like the assassination attempt, apology, agent dropping him, and tour pause, using restrained wording and attributing evaluative claims to sources rather than editorializing.