Kyle Gass has been one half of the comedy rock duo Tenacious D with Jack Black for decades, but the band's future seemed to be in doubt in 2024 when Gass cracked a joke about the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.
On July 14, 2024, Gass was celebrating his 64th birthday onstage with the D in Sydney when Black asked him to make a wish. Gass replied, "Don't miss Trump next time," a reference to the gunman who attempted to shoot Donald Trump during a campaign stop in Butler, PA. The right-wing outrage machine erupted in the wake of the remark, and Black distanced himself from Gass, putting Tenacious D on hold and saying he was "blindsided" by the joke. A few weeks later, Gass asserted that the D was not breaking up, but a year and a half later, the band has yet to re-emerge (though they did contribute an REO Speedwagon cover to an LA fire relief benefit album last year).
Now Gass has given his first interview since the scandal. Speaking to Rolling Stone, he detailed the fallout from the assassination joke and spoke about the future of Tenacious D, which he promises will return at some point in the future: "We're gonna come back — it’s gonna be bigger than Oasis!"
According to Gass, he and Black initially thought they'd only cancel one or two shows and then resume their tour, but it quickly became clear there were safety concerns that necessitated a full-on hiatus. He and Black drafted their statements about the incident separately, and Gass respected that Black needed to create some distance. He did not agree with the idea that Black hung him out to dry:
I might have deserved it. Or, he had to protect himself from his loose cannon partner over here. I totally understood once safety concerns got in. I might have tried to finish the tour, and I think sometimes these things can blow over, but at the time, it’s hard when the tsunami of shit is coming at you.
Eventually, the longtime friends got together to sort through the fallout. "We hashed it out," Gass said. "And it was hard. It is like a marriage. You go through these ups and downs, and try to understand your partner."
As for their relationship now:
Jack and I are all good. At the end of the day, we’re friends. I’ve known Jack since he was 18 and it’s been such a long marriage, really. You go up and down, and we’ve always taken long breaks. He’s had a lot of stuff to do, and I’ve got my other projects. So it doesn’t even feel that different now.
Read the full interview here.
