Tenacious D is not actually done, says Jack Black
After Tenacious D seemingly broke up over an off-color Donald Trump assassination joke, Jack Black says the band will return
Photo by: Jeff Hahne/Getty Images
It’s been a strange, strange, strange few weeks in U.S. politics. For a moment it seemed like the biggest story of the election would be the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, and then the Democratic ticket started evolving so rapidly that the shooting somehow became overshadowed. The situation looks so different than it did a month ago, even Jack Black is obscuring the role that the shooting played in the (apparently temporary) breakup of Tenacious D.
To recap: Black canceled the band’s tour and put “all future creative plans” on hold because his partner Kyle Gass joked onstage that his birthday wish was “Don’t miss Trump next time.” In his statement, Black said he was “blindsided” and assured fans he would never “condone hate speech or encourage political violence in any form.” But speaking with Variety on the red carpet for Borderlands, Black downplayed the role that the off-color joke had in the tour cancellation. “We need to take a break. Everybody needs a break sometime. And we’ll be back,” he said. The actor assured the outlet that he and Gass are still friends: “That hasn’t changed. These things take time sometimes… And we’ll be back when it feels right.”
Taken out of context, someone might assume from these remarks that Tenacious D canceled their tour due to burnout or a minor personal dispute, not an emotionally charged political fiasco. While some condemned Gass’ remarks, other fans felt that Black’s response threw Gass under the bus. Gass, who was also dropped by his talent agency for the quip, later issued an apology for the “highly inappropriate, dangerous and a terrible mistake.” He later deleted the apology from his social media.
Black’s Borderlands carpet appearance was in itself something of an olive branch to Gass; he reportedly wore the magical guitar pick from their 2006 film Tenacious D In The Pick Of Destiny. “Look what I wore today: I wore the Pick of Destiny,” he said. “I love Tenacious D. It’s probably my favorite job, if you can call it that. It’s a work of art, it’s my baby.”