Kyle Gass admitted he has “felt terrible ever since” with his controversial joke about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump.
In July 2024, the Tenacious D guitarist sparked a backlash after saying, “Don’t miss Trump next time” in the wake of a shooting targeting the President of the United States.
His bandmate and friend Jack Black said in a statement at the time: “I would never condone hate speech or encourage political violence in any form.”
They continued, “After much consideration, I no longer feel it is appropriate to continue the Tenacious D tour, and all future creative plans have been put on hold.”
“I am grateful to the fans for their support and understanding,” Tenacious D concluded at the time.
Now, the Tribute hitmaker has confirmed the pair have ‘done it out’, but described his joke as a ‘terrible judgement’.
In a conversation with Rolling stone magazine, Kyle said: “I’ve felt terrible ever since because it’s such a responsibility not to mess up like that…”
“I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. It’s one of those things. Once it was picked up, it just got worse and worse. It was a Defcon 2 especially in the camp,” the musician added.
“And I did it. It was hard to take responsibility for it, but it was my fault,” Kyle admitted.
He also emphasized that he understands why Jack had to step away and, thinking about the consequences, said: “When you’re in it, it’s hard to even think straight.”
“It’s just that thing that overflows and comes at you. We had to take a break. And I got it. Jack has a great career; I can’t even count the franchises right now. So as hard as it was, I just had to make the long drive home,” Kyle explained.
However, he is now hopeful that he will reunite with Jack Black on stage again in the future.
“It’s like a marriage. You go through these ups and downs and try to understand your partner… We won’t serve D wine until it’s D time – but we’ll be back. We’ll be back,” Kyle Gass concluded.
