The latest show on Tenacious D’s Australian tour has been postponed after senator Ralph Babet demanded the pair be deported following an apparent joke about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump.
American comedy rock duo Jack Black and Kyle Gass were due to perform in Newcastle on Tuesday evening, but the show – part of the band’s Spicy Meatball Tour – was cancelled without notice on Tuesday afternoon.
Concert promoter Frontier Touring said on social media that it regretted “to advise that Tenacious D’s concert tonight at Newcastle Entertainment Centre has been postponed”.
Video from the event showed (Kyle) Gass being presented with a birthday cake and told to “make a wish” as he blew out the candles. Gass then appeared to say “don’t miss Trump next time” – just hours after the shooting at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania that left the former president injured.
As an Australian, I’m sorry for how backwards and retrograde this country is.
Hold my Bud Light.
Also that particular Senator is from a particularly stupid minority party owned by a billionaire.
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Do they get kicked with a boot now?
They’re not savages. They use a wing tipped shoe now
Babet’s comments aren’t the real story though - he’s just a dog whistling idiot trying to get attention.
Jack Black cancelled the rest of the tour, and not because of what Babet said:
Jack Black, one half of the American comedy rock duo Tenacious D, says he no longer feels it is “appropriate” to continue the band’s tour following a controversial joke by his bandmate Kyle Gass at the band’s recent Sydney show.
“I was blindsided by what was said at the show on Sunday,” Black wrote in a statement posted on Instagram.
Celebrities should not condone political violence. “It was just a joke” doesn’t give you a free pass. There’s plenty of things one could say as a joke which are completely inappropriate and unacceptable.
That’s a relief I guess, but I still have a great sense of shame and remorse for our conservative politicians. In America they sell out to billionaires for huge rewards. In Australia they’ll fuck the country for a bag of peanuts.
In America you can apparently buy a senator for less than the price of a home, and a Supreme Court justice for an RV and some vacation trips.
Lost some respect for JB here
He’s afraid of getting cancelled
Same. Have some fucking loyalty to your boy, he said nothing warranting this reaction.
Meh. I think what you really mean by “lost some respect” is that you’ve realised that JB has a different stance on this to your own.
Maybe he did miss Trump and wants to really meet him at the next opportunity? 🤔
Babet is a known far-right crank who rode in with the antivaxer movement. He represents not even mainstream culture-war conservatism (the Liberal Party, currently in opposition, does that), but what Australians refer to as “cookers”: the fringe of conspiracy theorists and aggrieved boomers whose brains have been devoured by the Murdoch media. The kinds of people who smuggle horse dewormer to treat their wind-turbine syndrome.
He also claimed that he went into politics as a ‘sacrifice’ for his country - the pay wasn’t enough for ‘all the suffering’ he’d have to ‘endure’ in parliament and all the work he’d be forced to do. He said he’d be much happier running his real estate business
Kyle is a cool guy.
How bizarre that an Australian politician is getting his panties in a twist over American politics.
I’m aware of the cultural absorption by other countries of American culture, but it really seems subordinate and pandering of politicians from other countries to emotionally invest themselves in American issues.
Almost as bad as the pandering, subservient American politicians themselves.
Babet is a weird little dude. He preaches during an empty chamber and puts it on his social media as though he makes a difference about conspiracy theory enquiries.
Wow, that is odd.
It’s crazy because if they made the same joke in America few people might be pissed, that’s about it. They wouldn’t be banned, and their demographic is not the type to be mad about that comment. It would barely actually affect them here.
It’s just geopolitical Game of Thrones shit
Because “the people” figuring out there’s way more of them than there is of the ruling class is the only real fear the ruling class have.
Australian politics is American conservatism with thongs and tongs.
🎵 Let me see those saaaaaandals! Sa-sa-sa-sa-sa-andals!
The Aussies have an extreme right wing thing going on and that group just absolutely fucking loves trump cuz he’s the fast-fasch king.
I remember them copying the truck convoys and other dumb American stunts.
The Murdoch empire transcends borders
In case it’s not clear to any Lemmings, Rupert Murdoch is an Australian and owns Fox News. His influence is the common thread between US and Australian conservative politics.
The fascists are infecting the whole world with their brain rot via the internet. Nowhere is immune.
The fascists were already there, they’re just not hiding anymore.
True, but they’re recruiting new members faster than before.
Are they? I haven’t read many articles about their recruitment numbers.
I feel like they’ve been steadily crawling out from under rocks, but I don’t know if the base itself is growing.
They absolutely are growing. They’re heavily targeting youth to indoctrinate, as well:
It’s influencers targeting “outsiders.” There have always been outsiders, whether in the 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, etc. Sometimes that’s even healthy. But because that only became a source of strongly-defined “identity” and “pride,” often people in the past would grow out of it or use it productively (as a source of empathy for other outsiders) and leave only a small dedicated core group who were vulnerable to being exploited.
The difference is that now these influencers indoctrinate a vulnerable audience at the right time, and coach that audience into making alt-right talking points a part of their identity. Social media then allows those new recruits to see each other and create a community that self-reinforces.
There is no equivalent push on the left, because the left assumes that sense will eventually prevail. It was true decades ago, but now there is no reason to believe that - those indoctrinated never have to confront their doctrine, they live surrounded by it.
So yep, it’s going to keep growing. The only solution I can think of is to regulate news media to penalize lying and propaganda. That itself is nearly impossible to do right, since it will be abused by every right-wing leader if there is any opportunity.
Online extremism makes sense, and targeting the vulnerable makes sense, I’m more curious about the specific growth by numbers versus the numbers before, as far as we have them.
I’ll look into it.
So many socially progressive policies grow more popular according to general population polls, I can’t help but feel like the loud and proud conservatives are making it seem like there are more than their actually are.
Even in Europe, before Trump was a twinkle in he conservative eye, there were plenty of alt-right movements, they just weren’t socially acceptable.
I was in a tiny town in Austria one week and the bar patrons were complaining about some local fascist event/gathering that they were all embarrassed about, or so I was told.
True but now they’re all rallying behind Trump like he’s their divine leader.
The second cumming as it were.
He’s a false prophet at best.
Motherfucker is a charlatan. People believe he is filthy rich and he can make them rich too if they work for him. But that asshole only thinks about himself, as he has proven repeatedly with all his past projects.
It does seem like he’s tearing the traditional conservative movement apart though where they hide under rocks and bite ankles. Now they’re all just kind of naked in the wind.
It is creepy, the cult like fascination they have with such a dumb, gross rapist, but I’d rather have all the zealots comfortably exposed and openly committing fraud and getting fired for slurs then secretly planning these movements like they’ve been doing for decades.
They’re all on the same team. There are no borders with global fascism.
And they all know it, but somehow politicians pretend like they’re all independent and any support or praise is just incidental.
Gotta lick that boot eh
Australian government is like that
That’s a deportation-worthy statement?
Land of the free, freedom of speech, lmao
Yes Newcastle, Australia - the land of the free as it was always known
As far as immigration goes (even temporary) Oz still has the equivalent of moral turpitude regulations. They can be quite strict. They can also just say they don’t like the cut of your jib.
Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison denied Djokovic was being singled out and said no-one was above the country’s rules. But he added that Djokovic’s stance on vaccination had drawn attention.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-59889522
Note that this is only an example of a famous person running afoul of Australian immigration. Anti vaxxers are of course assholes and morons.
In a country that has neither got anything to do with Trump nor with the shooting… Someone needs to pamper a certain voter demographic, I’d say
Usually people say “pander to”, I’m not sure pamper really makes sense here
Pamper is a synonym for coddling. Makes perfect sense in this context
Pamper?
You question the word “pamper” because your only familiarity with it is in the context of the diaper brand?
Holy shit. Crack a book once in a while.
It was obviously a joke to imply the voter demographic in question are acting like babies.
Don’t be an Aussie Senator.
Jayzuz buddy. It was a joke ffs. Take a pill.
I got a toddler at home. I’m very familiar with their product range :P
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Kinda like most liberals who generally scream about better gun control/laws… But are REALLY disappointed Trump didn’t take that bullet to head directly.
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It’s a wonderful comparison going back at least thirty years: https://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury/1994/07/15
Good shit. Holy fuck
they haven’t changedthey’ve only gotten worse and more powerful in 30 years ouch oof owie my doomerism hurtsSo glad Limbaugh is dead.
I think “the shoe is on the other foot” is cutting both ways here. Read this thread, it’s filled with people defending banning people for hate speech, but the defending him here for literally asking for someone to be murdered.
cAnCeL CuLtUrE11!!! fReEzE pEaCh!!!@
So who actually postponed the show? One senator got his balls in a twist, but it doesn’t seem like anything official’s been done yet.
They (themselves) have now completely canceled the rest of the tour:
Because of that comment? Come on guys, don’t give in like that.
Looks like Jack Black was genuinely bothered by it.
I also wonder if there’s a part there aren’t saying. Maybe they have gotten death threats or fear for their lives
Make a comment about a horrible man nearly missing his demise, cancel tour.
Horrible man rapes children, defrauded charities, wants to fuck his own daughter, cheated on all of his wives, tries to destroy democracy in America, yet he’s still Republican’s #1 choice for president.
Republicans are complicit in the destruction of America.
That definitely feels like Jables had a “come on man, you can’t say that shit in public” moment with KG. I wouldn’t be surprised if they lay low for a while on the band and focus on other stuff until this blows over.
Yeah Jables can’t really be associated with that. He might lose his spot in Jumanji 5: More Money Please.
Or Kung Fu Panda 5: ok, but this is the last one for real!
Seriously though, Jack Black is a treasure as a performer and seemingly as a person, normally.
He’s dead wrong on this one, though. Poor Kyle must feel so damn betrayed right now!
I lost some respect for jables here, the way he’s seemingly throwing Kage under the bus… But at the same time I can recognise that JB has always tried to keep up a positive persona. Not apolitical but he’s never been the type to promote violence directed at specific people. Kyle did him kinda dirty by doing something to potentially harm that (assuming he was truthful when he said he was blindsided by it, and not just saying that after it blew up in the news).
Not saying Kyle is wrong and Jack is right here, though. I’ve always felt a little bad for Kyle that Jack put tenacious D and therefore Kyle on the sidelines when his Hollywood career took off. Kyle was rightfully quite jaded about that and I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s led him to doing this without considering the possible consequences for Jack.
The whole thing sucks for both of them, I guess.
I’ve lost some respect for shutting it down as hard as he did. I could see postponing some shows, dropping out of the Rock the Vote things they scheduled in October. Maybe more if they’re getting threats and have safety concerns now.
But going as far as to say that all future creative plans are on hold I think was too far especially. Though I can see if he truly was blindsided, that it could hurt.
You mean to say that right wing politician can’t take a joke without getting offended? What a bunch of snowflakes. Man up, facts don’t care about your feelings!
Man, I gotta go out and buy their album to support these guys.
Jack Black is the one canceling the tour, he doesn’t deserve shit. Get it to Kyle somehow, he was dropped by his talent agency.
The Tenacious D movie is insanely funny, cant recommend it enough.
Free speech, you snowflakes.
Happy Birthday Kyle
Keep on rockin! 🤘
Did I fucking read that right that Jack Black said “all creative plans are on hold”? Does he want to disband Tenacious D over this?
I’m sure he’s doing damage control, so that they can talk about it behind closed doors and ensure they don’t step over that line again as a band or as individuals.
It’s kind of the job of artists to step over lines every now and then. They have been outspoken about not liking fascism before, haven’t they?
Yeah but implying, even tongue in cheek, that he wishes trump (who is an absolute garbage human being) should be shot, is not something that most celebrities want mixing up in their professional life, which I can totally understand.
Most celebrities are cowards carefully plotting a bland apolitical image to maximize ticket sales. I thought Jack Black wasn’t.
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I’m sure the people upset about Kyle Gass’s statement were JUST AS UPSET when Republicans joked about Nancy Pelosi’s attempted Assassination!
Yes?
We’re always joking about “facing the consequences of your actions”. Kyle is facing the consequences of his actions, why are you upset about it?
Most people think that encouraging violence is a bad thing and should be denounced, do you disagree?
There is no one-size-fits-all answer to political violence. Some portion of the populace will justify any specific violent action, and it’s up to the history books to tell us which of those were actually justifiable. I get the feeling we’d land on different sides of this one.
What does justified even mean in this context though? Are you in favour of capital punishment? Of vigilante justice?
Trump is a horrible person who, if elected, will harm the lives of very many people. I simply do not believe assassinating him is a legitimate tactic. There are so many problems inherent with political violence that I don’t even know where to start.
To me, advocating for political violence is a position detached from reality. Akin to wondering why the western world doesn’t simply declare war on Russia over their invasion of Ukraine. It may seem/be the morally correct thing to do, but the consequences of doing it are far reaching and extremely complicated.
Honestly idk what I’m trying to say other than I don’t think violence against Nazis is an effective strategy. I think it’s reactionary and short sighted and will only make the problem worse.
To be fair, he was encouraging accuracy, not violence. Let us not forget that a fire fighter got killed in this shooting instead of Shitstain L’Orange
Serious answer: I think it’s a worrying sign of the times if anyone thinks of political violence as anything other than abhorrent. The reasons they might: he’s stacked the highest court in the land with hacks who’ve handed him immunity. He’s succeeded on the back of lies and smear tactics. So he’s killed truth and justice, and he’s just getting started. His party have gerrymandered themselves into a perpetual obstructionist role that makes a mockery of democracy.
He’s a convicted felon and Russian asset who is about to be elected president. How far can we be taken into dystopia before “abhorrent political violence” becomes “absolutely necessary revolutionary action?”
You can’t legally deport a US citizen from the US lmao what a dipshitit’s ‘straya, derpEdit: is this my peak Lemmy moment? I didn’t even read the title all the way through 😓
Also even if you could generally, you couldn’t do it for this as America has very strong free speech protections.
This happened in Australia, not America.
Maybe you need more coffee.
I do, actually
They are touring in Australia
