In July 2024, Tenacious D canceled their tour and put “all future creative plans” on hold after the duo’s Kyle Gass joked about the attempted assassination of President Donald J. Trump. Now, Gass revealed that their unexpected creative hiatus has ended and he and Jack Black are working together again.
“We hashed it out. And it was hard. It is like a marriage. You go through these ups and downs, and try to understand your partner,” Gass told Rolling Stone in a new interview. “We will serve no D-wine, before it’s D-time — but we will be back. We will return.”
The inciting incident took place in Sydney, Australia, when Black led the crowd in singing “Happy Birthday” to Gass and encouraged him to make a wish after blowing out his birthday cake candles. “Don’t miss Trump next time,” Gass wished out loud, referring to 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks’ attempt to shoot then-former president Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. (Event attendee Corey Comperatore was killed by Crooks, and two other men were injured.)
Afterwards, Gass posted a self-written apology online: “The line I improvised onstage Sunday night in Sydney was highly inappropriate, dangerous and a terrible mistake. I don’t condone violence of any kind, in any form, against anyone. What happened was a tragedy, and I’m incredibly sorry for my severe lack of judgement. I profoundly apologize to those I’ve let down and truly regret any pain I’ve caused.”
“It was terrible judgment, obviously. I’ve felt terrible ever since, because it’s such a responsibility to not screw up like that,” Gass said in the new interview. “I was naive, of course — people are gonna pick that up. But I just felt it was kind of a private moment. I thought I was safe in the bubble. And it was so fast.” Both Gass and Black are longtime, outspoken Trump critics, and the band had just announced several concerts to support the nonprofit Rock the Vote at the time, which they ended up canceling due to Gass’ onstage comments.
Gass also revealed a few behind-the-scenes details from the fallout of that moment in 2024: He wrote the apology himself, he didn’t fault Black for distancing himself initially, and the duo realized calling the entire tour off was necessary when someone threatened Gass’ 95-year-old mother. Gass also shared that when he deleted his apology on Instagram a few days afterwards, it was not as a reflection of a change of heart: “If I would have recanted, I would have said that.”