Kyle Gass (left) and Jack Black of Tenacious D.
Jeff Haney/Getty Images
An Australian politician has called for the rock comedy group Tenacious D, featuring Jack Black and Kyle Gass, to be deported from the country after a member made a comment about an assassination attempt on US President Donald Trump.
On Sunday, footage widely shared on social media showed Tenacious D on stage in Sydney when Black and Robot presented Gass with a birthday cake. In the footage, Black can be heard saying, “Make a wish” to Gass, who then says, “Don’t miss Trump next time,” before blowing out the candles, to laughter and applause from the Sydney crowd.
Senator Ralph Babbitt, leader of the United Australia Party, took to social media on Monday evening to call for Tenacius D to be deported over the joke being in bad taste. In a press releaseBabbitt said Glass’s comments were not a joke, and called on Australian Immigration Minister Andrew Giles to “cancel their visas”.
“Anything short of deportation is an endorsement of the shooting and attempted assassination of Donald Trump,” Babbitt added.
Babbitt has previously denounced censorship. In February, The senator was in the midst of a political storm in Australia. For resharing graphic videos of a stabbing incident, which the Australian government ordered X, formerly known as Twitter, to remove due to the violent and graphic nature of the footage.
After Australian courts upheld an injunction preventing the release of footage of the stabbing, Babbitt posted the horrific footage to his X account twice. He later tweeted: “Without freedom of speech, our nation will fall.”
The suspension has led to Tenacious D postponing their sold-out Newcastle concert scheduled for July 16. Frontier Touring, the company promoting Tenacious D’s Newcastle concert, announced: She posted a message on her Facebook page. The post said the concert had been postponed. “Ticket holders are asked to hold onto their tickets until further information is available,” the post added. No reason for the postponement was given.
Tenacious D still have three dates left on their Australian tour, including shows in Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide. It is unclear if those shows will go ahead as planned.