The latest show on Tenacious D’s Australian tour has been postponed after senator Ralph Babet demanded the pair be deported following an apparent joke about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump.
American comedy rock duo Jack Black and Kyle Gass were due to perform in Newcastle on Tuesday evening, but the show – part of the band’s Spicy Meatball Tour – was cancelled without notice on Tuesday afternoon.
Concert promoter Frontier Touring said on social media that it regretted “to advise that Tenacious D’s concert tonight at Newcastle Entertainment Centre has been postponed”.
Video from the event showed (Kyle) Gass being presented with a birthday cake and told to “make a wish” as he blew out the candles. Gass then appeared to say “don’t miss Trump next time” – just hours after the shooting at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania that left the former president injured.
I fucking love you Tenacious D.
Well. Half of Tenacious D. The other half is making posts on his Instagram like this:
Damn, wasn’t expecting to lose respect for Jack Black today.
throwing kyle under the bus is a classic Tenacious D bit, though
That reads like a PR firm posting for him
He’s not an infant or a puppet. Anything posted for him almost certainly comes with his at least partial approval. Who do you think hires his PR firm? He does.
Oof. Coward.
Very much agreed.
Coward
Coward for having his own opinion? So anyone who doesn’t agree with you is a coward?
Anyone who sees the writing on the wall would’ve backed Kyle up. Our country is in deep trouble. I know it, Jack knows it, you know it, we all know it. The head of project 25 literally said things will “remain bloodless” in the midst of the “second American revolution” if “the left allows it”. You understand what that means right? I stand with Kyle.
I wish i had a time machine to kill hitler.
Hey now easy, don’t call for political violence.
Didn’t work when they took out Jenkins either.
Canceling an entire tour, that people already bought tickets and travel for, over a small gaff made off the cuff by someone who has been his friend longer than a large amount of Lemmy has been alive, is fucking cowardice. And this is 100% a PR firms opinion and we will never know whatever JBs true feelings are because, again, hes a coward and will never speak out about it for fears it might upset his money train.
Postponed is kinda inaccurate…
- Kyle Gass’s talent agent has cut ties with him.
- Jack Black made a statement on Instagram to announce the tour’s cancellation and that any future Tenacious D projects were on hold indefinitely, stating that he was “blindsided” by what Kyle said and that he condemend any calls for political violence.
- Tenacious D were big promoters of Rock the Vote, a nonpartisan organisation dedicated to encouraging more young people to register and exercise their right to vote, to the point of planning a campus tour in partnership with them. Can’t really appear nonpartisan if you (even jokingly) wish for a presidential nominee and former US president to be assassinated.
- Black had a lot more to lose from this than Gass, since he’s the one with an actual Hollywood film career.
Tenacious D … ixie Chicks
You mean to say that right wing politician can’t take a joke without getting offended? What a bunch of snowflakes. Man up, facts don’t care about your feelings!
I’m sure all the fans that wanted to go to the show will be very thankful to the senator for cancelling the show at the last minute for political reasons. Free speech must not be allowed in Australia
The senator didn’t cancel the show, they don’t have that sort of authority.
Obviously the senator didn’t literally cancel the show. They just made it happen by creating fake outrage.
He’s the only senator for his party UAP, no one gives a shit about him.
Shit the party he represents doesn’t even actually exist as they de-registered in 2022.
He’s jumping on outrage to get his name printed in a paper, it doesn’t mean people actually do or care what he says
Are you claiming that he didn’t help create or spread this outrage? Even if that was true, which it’s not, why would it matter when the article that this post is about points to him directly? Not sure why you’re so adamantly making this point. What’s your goal?
Yes he did not help create this outrage, as for spreading it, no more than any of the other idiots who probably shared something on social media. This nobody is not as influential as you seem to think he is.
As for why the media is mentioning it? Because making up drama sells.
My goal is to point out that they cancelled the tour themselves. And to fix your misconception about how important this politician is. This whole story would have played out exactly the same with or without Babet, in fact many news articles on this don’t even mention him.
Ok gotcha. He’s officially not very important!
Free speech isn’t a constitutional right in Australia, or in most places. Conservative voices have been blocked from Australia before. In 2019 it was that Milo guy, and I think Lauren Southern was banned from the UK?
Free speech isn’t a constitutional right in Australia
https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/rights-and-freedoms/freedom-information-opinion-and-expression
I am not very well versed in Australian law, but this indicates to me that free speech is indeed protected in Australia.
Lauren Southern was banned from the UK?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauren_Southern
She’s a far-right racist conspiracy theorist nutjob who was denied entry into the UK for spewing hatred. Her right to express herself ends where other people’s rights for freedom, health and safety begin.
I am not very well versed in Australian law, but this indicates to me that free speech is indeed protected in Australia.
It aims to, but it is not a right.
See the two exclusions on the page you linked.
blocked when…
( a ) For respect of the rights or reputations of others; ( b ) For the protection of national security or of public order, or of public health or morals.
In this case, public order may be considered valid, although my personal view is that it wasn’t.
In Australia, humour has a long history of bad taste, but a longer history of religious repression through law. Think 1960s America - that describes much of Australian rural culture, with extra bad language. (Although NSW was a lot more tolerant when I travelled around the country)
In the UK, free speech is not possible either. See D-notices, and later super-injunctions to stop media and individuals reporting on facts.
( a ) For respect of the rights or reputations of others
So you can’t just insult someone, that’s not bad
That’s about defamation and privacy, we have the law in America. The First Amendment doesn’t protect defamatory speech or speech that infringes on recognized privacy rights, such as the right to self publicity, the right to be free of misappropriation of name or likeness, etc.
Hoping a shooter would have killed someone, even Trump, is - not even borderline - hate speech, I don’t get it. Jack is right. And US laws mean nothing outside US
“Hate speech” isn’t a ban on being able to vocally hate individual people.
In the UK, free speech is not possible either. See D-notices, and later super-injunctions to stop media and individuals reporting on facts.
Please provide examples.
Nope, see others commenting below.
And my point was, you can’t be surprised that conservatives turn around and do what the left does to them when they have the chance to. That’s why I was so against Dems ousting Trump supporters from their jobs, because I knew they would turn around and do the same if/when they had the chance.
It’s why we have to be very careful about any laws we pass when Dems are in power. Power will always swing back to Republicans at some point, and you’re fucking crazy if you think they’re not going to use those same laws to repress their political opponents
Not that I think the concert should have been cancelled. . .but isn’t asking for someone to be killed “spewing hatred”? Isn’t asking for them to actually be shot infringing on their “health and safety.” This is “if the shoe is on the other foot” example for me, it doesn’t appear that their ban was unjustified, or her ban was unjustified. Although, it probably doesn’t even really count because we are talking about two different countries here.
Did I fucking read that right that Jack Black said “all creative plans are on hold”? Does he want to disband Tenacious D over this?
I’m sure he’s doing damage control, so that they can talk about it behind closed doors and ensure they don’t step over that line again as a band or as individuals.
It’s kind of the job of artists to step over lines every now and then. They have been outspoken about not liking fascism before, haven’t they?
Yeah but implying, even tongue in cheek, that he wishes trump (who is an absolute garbage human being) should be shot, is not something that most celebrities want mixing up in their professional life, which I can totally understand.
Most celebrities are cowards carefully plotting a bland apolitical image to maximize ticket sales. I thought Jack Black wasn’t.
I like jack black, but seriously fuck him for this and for not taking a stand against fascism.
What do you want him to do, exactly?
Not throw his partner under the bus? Go out there and be the Tenacious D we know and make rock history. Instead he cowers behind a PR statement.
Given the plain meaning of the words they said, it sounds like they want jack black to take a stand against fascism.
edit: also maybe to fuck him, that seems like a valid interpretation.
Can’t make jokes without getting deported from Australia?
Politics really is just a show for morons.
They’re not getting deported. The senator who made that demand is on the fringe, doesn’t belong to any major party or group, and speaks for nobody but himself. He couldn’t have dialled up the histrionics any more if he’d actually tried.
Australia is essentially just Texas without guns. It’s run by an ultra-consvervative government that doesn’t give two shits about anything other than resources extraction and pretending aboriginal populations don’t exist.
Uhhh no. The current government is a centre-left party not too dissimilar to the US Democrats.
They’re still fucking useless but at least they’re not dangerously incompetent like the last few right wing governments, or dangerously competent as the current opposition leader (who is an ex-cop) would be in power
I mean, it used to be that you got deported to Australia for spicy comments about the ruling class.
Oh how the turntables.
Y’all are fucking weird. When a right winger makes comments encouraging violence, you denounce it and demand that person face the consequences of their actions. But the Trump assassination attempt has revealed to me that a lot of you are just as reactionary as right wingers. Trump is a horrible person and the world would be better off without him, but if you can’t see why assassinating him is not only morally wrong, but also just a bad thing for anyone who has faith we can win the fight against fascism, then quite frankly you’ve lost the fucking plot.
Kyle went made a joke that condoned an assassination attempt hours after it happened. Literally everyone involved, including Jack Black, and Kyle himself realize that what he said was extremely inappropriate.
Literally everyone in the fucking world realizes that political assassinations are a bad thing, but y’all are over here in your bubble thinking it was totally justified because Trump is a horrible person.
Are you in favour of police brutality? Are you in favour of capital punishment? Why do you get to decide which violence is appropriate and which violence is inappropriate?
Seriously fucking annoyed with Lemmy’s user base right now.
It wasn’t too long ago that right wingers were marching the streets in the state of Victoria, calling for the then-Premier to be hanged. One woman who later got elected to the Victorian parliament said she wouldn’t rest until she saw him hanging from the end of a rope.
Guess who didn’t oppose those calls for violence? The same people who got their knickers in a twist over this one, that’s right.
Shinzo’s turned out pretty well
Removed, assassination apologist.
Lmfao happily. Hope we get a two for one
How is it difficult to understand that an assassination attempt at an extremely bad person (a fucking pedo mind you) who might be governing the world’s strongest economy is absolutely something to root for? This asshole is destroying the USA and any credibility it had left. This cunt is going to be used by nazis all over the world. This sphincter face is bad for the entire world. He demonstrated it once when the worldwide nazification wasn’t as advanced as it is now. Next time will be catastrophic.
Fuck this piece of shit. I hope someone sends a fucking quadcopter with C4 strapped to it in his fucking asshole of a face and blows him to pieces.
Removed, advocating violence.
Thank you! I’ve been saying the same thing for days (and getting similarly downvoted by the lynch mob).
It’s honestly been depressing seeing how seemingly universal this reaction has been. I expected jokes and made some myself amongst friends. But I did not expect the entire community to unite behind a legitimate desire for violence.
Feels like a mask off moment.
Feels like a mask off moment.
:sigh: Yep. Got me re-evaluating whether I even want to be here anymore if that’s the kind of people that make up this platform.
But thank you for also speaking up against it.
Literally everyone in the fucking world realizes that political assassinations are a bad thing, but y’all are over here in your bubble thinking it was totally justified because Trump is a horrible person.
As someone who would have been glad he was dead, that’s not the entirety of the reasoning. Plenty of horrible people don’t deserve to be killed.
However, Trump is a specific type of “horrible person”. He’s one that is campaigning to be king for four years again (thanks to the supreme court and the toadies that make up congress), after having just fucked up the entire country for four years and then trying to overthrow the government because he lost an election. This asshole not only evaded but also destroyed the system of any other type of justice he can face.
He’s extremely likely to bring down whatever is left of our democracy when he (seemingly inevitably) returns to power in around six months.
So, I don’t give a single fuck about his troubles.
EDIT: “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”
And there are very literally hundreds of thousands of people who are dead because of him and his intentional choices to choose politics over public health in a deadly pandemic. When I saw the news I thought, while it could just be someone acting politically, there are also a lot of people who lost cherished family members to his actions and now see him not only not seeing any consequences, but on the path to do it all again. I’m surprised this is the first serious attempt, frankly.
australian senator? what? who gives a shit? most ppl wish trump or the magas were dead.
No, actually most people aren’t blood thirsty lunatics who are willing to kill their political opposition. Most people are able to disagree with others without wanting them dead.
The concert was in Australia, so, yeah, Australian Senator.
You can’t legally deport a US citizen from the US lmao what a dipshit
This happened in Australia, not America.
Maybe you need more coffee.
I do, actually
They are touring in Australia
As an Australian, I’m sorry for how backwards and retrograde this country is.
Do they get kicked with a boot now?
They’re not savages. They use a wing tipped shoe now
Babet’s comments aren’t the real story though - he’s just a dog whistling idiot trying to get attention.
Jack Black cancelled the rest of the tour, and not because of what Babet said:
Jack Black, one half of the American comedy rock duo Tenacious D, says he no longer feels it is “appropriate” to continue the band’s tour following a controversial joke by his bandmate Kyle Gass at the band’s recent Sydney show.
“I was blindsided by what was said at the show on Sunday,” Black wrote in a statement posted on Instagram.
Celebrities should not condone political violence. “It was just a joke” doesn’t give you a free pass. There’s plenty of things one could say as a joke which are completely inappropriate and unacceptable.
Lost some respect for JB here
He’s afraid of getting cancelled
Same. Have some fucking loyalty to your boy, he said nothing warranting this reaction.
Meh. I think what you really mean by “lost some respect” is that you’ve realised that JB has a different stance on this to your own.
That’s a relief I guess, but I still have a great sense of shame and remorse for our conservative politicians. In America they sell out to billionaires for huge rewards. In Australia they’ll fuck the country for a bag of peanuts.
In America you can apparently buy a senator for less than the price of a home, and a Supreme Court justice for an RV and some vacation trips.
Also that particular Senator is from a particularly stupid minority party owned by a billionaire.
Hold my Bud Light.
Happy Birthday Kyle
Keep on rockin! 🤘
Government officials get super pissed whenever the violence is aimed at them instead of the poor.
I did not mean…
The world has gone PC mad 🤦🏻♂️
That’s not what’s happening. These are authoritarian fascists being upset at slights against their Great Leader. Textbook behavior.
Very very very different than common context for “PC”
