Jack Black has been criticised for his “PR act” attempt to not be cancelled after being forced to cancel the remainder of his band Tenacious D’s tour.
Black issued a statement after bandmate Kyle Gass joked about the shooting of Donald Trump, just hours after the assassination attempt in Pennsylvania.
In celebration of Gass’s birthday during their concert in Australia, Black asked Gass to make a wish, to which he replied in front of concertgoers: “Don’t miss Trump next time.”
Taking to social media after the incident, Black confirmed the tour had been cancelled, and “all future creative plans” with Tenacious D are “on hold”.
Tim Young hit out at Jack Black’s ‘PR act’ in a bid to ‘not be cancelled’ following Tenacious D backlash
Getty / GBNA
Discussing the move by Black, broadcaster and comedian Tim Young told GBN America it was “disgusting” of Gass to make the remarks, but highlighted that Jack Black “laughed” at the time.
Young explained: “He can cancel the tour if he wants, I think it’s disgusting to joke about it and I think it’s anti-American, to think it’s funny that we almost lost a president.
“I think it’s a PR thing now, because Jack Black is in a lot of family movies, children’s cartoons, like Kung Fu Panda and of course the huge Super Mario Bros. hit.”
He added: “They know that conservatives are a huge part of that audience and that money that comes in, so this is him and his team trying to save face by separating him.”
Tenacious D star Kyle Gass joked about Donald Trump’s shooting just hours after it happened
Getty
Arguing in defence of Jack Black, GBNA host Mark Dolan asked if the actor “deserves to be faced with cancel culture from the right” because of a “joke made by his bandmate”.
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Mark claimed: “It might have been in poor taste, it might have had a horrible sentiment underneath it, which is the idea of a democratic figure being shot down, but hardly crime of the century?”
Young disagreed, responding: “I’m tossed up on the cancel culture thing – I think voting with your money is the way to go here, if you don’t want to support him anymore, don’t give him any money.
“I certainly don’t like giving people who hate me any money.”
Mark then interjected, arguing: “Don’t you think the right have slightly lost their sense of humour here? They’re always the ones banging on about free speech?”
Tim Young said there is ‘nothing funny’ about the attempted assassination of a former President
GBNA
Young fumed: “I don’t think that the assassination of president is funny, and I think a lot of people think that. It’s the same thing if someone attacked your Prime Minister or the Royal Family. I don’t think it’s a joking matter.
“There’s one thing about having a sense of humour and people are getting cancelled – on the flip side, the left cancels people for saying the wrong pronouns.
“I’m not someone who wants to cancel people, but in this instance where you’re anti-American, you get what you get. The left make these rules and they get to live by them.”