Jack Black Cancels Tenacious D Tour and ‘All Future Creative Plans’ After Kyle Gass’ Remark on Trump Assassination Attempt: ‘I Was Blindsided by What Was Said’
We've heard this shit over and over in the ten years since Trump became a candidate. Violence is who we are, and it doesn't suddenly become inappropriate because Trump got a smidgen of his comeuppance.
I think people who have a media based existence have to be more mindful of this kind of thing, because, like it or not, appropriate or not, it can have very serious effects on their livelihoods.
We all suffer a bit of this at work. There are things we avoid saying to our coworkers, bosses, customers and clients, etc. What is and isn't okay to say changes based on the nature of our employment. I can't tell my boss he's a stupid sac of shit for mismanaging a product launch in spite of my recommendations. For Tenacious D, it very much can be shit like this.
Uhh, not touring as Tenacious D anymore means a lot less money for Jack Black.
If he's trying to save his movie career, it shows that he valued his career more than his friend.
Black isn't hurting for money, his net worth is reportedly $50 million, he's been in tons of shit lately, and Tenacious D has been touring off and on for over a decade. He's 54 years old, he could just retire entirely on this kind of money at that age.
I can understand a minimum wage worker not risking their livelihood over expressing antifascist sentiment in the workplace, but that doesn't apply to a well known multi-millionaire with a large global platform.
He is saying loud and clear - his millions and his fame, only one of which he is at risk of losing over expressing his opinion (E: and even then, he'd get plenty of notoriety to replace it if he actually found some self respect), are more important to him than taking a stand against fascism.
I chose to believe he is being honest about why he cancelled the tour, and it wasn’t because “I agree with my buddy, and we’re going to stay out of the limelight for a short minute to stay safe”, but because “my buddy wants a fascist dead, and I can’t be seen to agree”.
I also find it fucking hilarious that people seriously think anyone is going to target this guy (or that he doesn't already have/ can't afford security), when there are significantly bigger targets out ther.
I'm not saying that it's likely, just that it is more likely following this event. And yeah, this is absolutely showing that Jack Black is either spineless, or he's a moderate that truly believes we can defeat fascism by simply getting out the vote. Neither reflects positively on him, but then, I wasn't looking to Jack Black for political theory.
downpunxx was not saying that it was inappropriate. They're saying that the current political temperature is high, and as a public figure, Gass's comment could put a target on Tenacious D as "woke liberals ruining America". Right now, that's a dangerous label to have if you aren't anonymous on the internet, and doubly so if you were planning on spending a lot of time in front of audiences over the next few months. Even if the chance of a violent event only went up from 0.1% to 0.5%, canceling is just the smarter move. Why risk it?