Kyle Gass has some major regrets more than a year after his joke about Donald Trump’s assassination attempt.
Gass shared with Rolling Stone what was going on behind the scenes and in his head when he told the crowd at a Tenacious D concert in Sydney, Australia, that his birthday wish was that Trump’s would-be assassination “wouldn’t miss next time”—just hours after the bullet missed.
“I wouldn’t wish it on anybody,” he told the outlet. “It’s one of those things, once it was picked up, it just got worse and worse. It was a Defcon 2 for sure in the camp. And I did it. It was hard to take responsibility for it, but it was my f----up.”
Gass is one-half of the comedy-rock duo with Jack Black. Black released a statement shortly after the Sydney concert, stating that he was “blindsided” by the comment and that the group would go on hiatus.
After all, the backlash had been swift and raucous. Trump narrowly missed a bullet that grazed his ear during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024. One rallygoer was killed by the long-range shooter, and two others were injured.
Several Democratic lawmakers followed the custom of condemning political violence and called for a cooling down of the country’s political climate. Critics who argued that Trump shared responsibility for the level of political vitriol at the time were also condemned.
“I would never condone hate speech or encourage political violence in any form,” Black also said in his statement addressing the incident. “After much reflection, I no longer feel it is appropriate to continue the Tenacious D tour, and all future creative plans are on hold. I am grateful to the fans for their support and understanding.”
Gass told Rolling Stone that he understands why the band needed to shut things down for a while. Black was part of big-budget family franchises, Kung Fu Panda, Super Mario Bros., and Jumanji, at the time, and did not need the bad press.
“When you’re in it, it’s hard to even think straight,” Gass said. “It’s just this thing flooding and coming at you. We had to take the break. And I got it. Jack has this magnificent career; I can’t even count the franchises now. So as hard as it was, I just had to take the long ride home.”
“I’ve felt terrible ever since, because it’s such a responsibility to not screw up like that,” he continued, explaining that he “was trying to make the band laugh” and “be a little outrageous,” but admitting, “I wasn’t overthinking it—obviously.”
Gass said he’s so mortified that he hasn’t watched any footage of his having made the joke. “Honestly, I can’t watch it. I think I might have looked at it once, but even then,” he said, he had to close his eyes.
As for the group’s future, Gass vowed, as Black has, that Tenacios D will be back at it soon.
“We will be back. We will return,” he promised, though no new performances have been announced.
