Tenacious D’s Kyle Gass Opens Up On Backlash To Trump Assassination Joke

Tenacious D’s Kyle Gass is recounting the “huge” ramifications he and his band faced as a result of a controversial, improvised joke about the first assassination attempt against Donald Trump.

“I’m human, I made a mistake. I was going for a joke. But timing is everything. If there was ever a ‘too soon,’ it was this,” said Kyle, who founded the comedy rock band with Jack Black, during a recent interview with Rolling Stone magazine.

In July 2024, Jack and the band’s fans were celebrating Kyle’s 64th birthday at a show in Sydney just after a gunman had targeted then-GOP presidential candidate Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

When Jack asked Kyle to make a wish onstage before blowing out the birthday candles on his cake, the musician joked: “Don’t miss Trump next time.”

The moment sparked swift conservative backlash and a since-removed apology post from Kyle before Jack announced that the band was calling off its tour and pausing all future creative endeavours.

Jack said he was “blindsided” by his bandmate’s comments and emphasised that he “would never condone hate speech or encourage political violence in any form”.

Kyle told Rolling Stone that he had “touched the stove”, and started to realise the impact of his comments as he and others partied in his hotel room after the show.

“There was no way out. Just panic… It became a worldwide story, which seems so ridiculous now in comparison with all the shit that’s been [happening],” he told the magazine.

Kyle said he couldn’t watch a clip of his remarks and recalled the fallout, including his longtime talent agent dropping him.

“It’s like a tsunami of shit rolling over you,” he said. “And then there’s the regret. Like, ‘Why would I do that?’ I just didn’t put it together.”

Kyle said he doesn’t begrudge Jack his statement at the time and has since hashed things out with his bandmate.

He vowed that Tenacious D – which has dropped music and a concert DVD since the joke – would make an Oasis-level return in the future.

Read Kyle Gass’ interview with Rolling Stone here.