Jack Black was flanked by Secret Service-style bodyguards as he greeted fans in Sydney on Monday, just hours before his band Tenacious D canceled their Australian tour.
The 54-year-old American actor was seen leaving his luxury hotel surrounded by security guards dressed in formal suits and radio headsets.
The outing came a day after his Tenacious D bandmate Kyle Gass made a divisive joke about the shooting of Donald Trump on stage at Sydney’s ICC Theatre on Sunday.
Gass caused controversy when Black brought him a birthday cake and asked him to make a wish, prompting the singer to respond: “Don’t miss Trump next time.”
The comment referred to how a shot fired by gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, missed Trump’s head and went through his ear during a shooting at his campaign rally at Butler Farm Showgrounds in Pennsylvania.
On Tuesday, Black distanced himself from his longtime bandmate Gass, issuing a strongly worded statement condemning the comment and cancelling the remainder of Tenacious D’s Australian tour.
Black was surrounded by heavy security as fans approached him outside his Sydney hotel before the cancellation.
He was surrounded by men wearing formal suits, name tags and radio headsets as he left his hotel.
Jack Black was surrounded by Secret Service-style bodyguards as he greeted fans in Sydney on Monday, just hours before cancelling his band Tenacious D’s Australian tour.
The 54-year-old American actor was seen leaving his luxury Sydney hotel surrounded by security guards wearing radio headsets as he stopped to wrap his arms around fans for photographs.
The large security detail didn’t stop Jack from stopping to sign autographs for fans who greeted him outside his luxury hotel just hours after Sunday night’s show.
The School Of Rock star was seen wrapping his arms around two fans as they posed for a photograph together, while his bodyguards stood nearby and watched.
Black, who cut a relaxed figure in a tie-dyed T-shirt and colorful shorts, was later seen flanked by bodyguards as he walked to his vehicle.
Following his controversial show in Sydney, Black travelled to Newcastle ahead of Tenacious D’s scheduled show at the Entertainment Centre, and was spotted exploring the city.
However, just three hours before doors opened, Frontier Touring confirmed that Tuesday’s show would no longer go ahead, before later clarifying that the remainder of the tour was cancelled.
“Frontier Touring regrets to inform that the remaining dates of Tenacious D’s tour in Australia and New Zealand have been cancelled,” they wrote in a statement.
‘Ticket holders who purchased their tickets through authorised ticket sellers will receive a full refund. A communication will be sent to all ticket holders today with further information.’
Black was seen surrounded by multiple “Security Service”-style bodyguards wearing formal suits, name tags and radio headsets as he left his hotel.
Black, who cut a relaxed figure in a tie-dyed T-shirt and colorful shorts, was flanked by his security guards as he walked to his vehicle.
Black also issued a statement confirming that the remaining six shows on Tenacious D’s Australasian tour will no longer go ahead and condemned Gass’ Trump joke.
Black and Gass have been friends since the mid-1980s, but their blunt statement could effectively end their popular band and their working relationship.
Distancing himself from Gass, he told the Daily Mail Australia: “What was said on Sunday’s show took me by surprise. I would never condone hate speech or encourage political violence in any form.”
“After much consideration, I no longer believe it is appropriate to continue the Tenacious D tour and all future creative plans are on hold. I thank the fans for their support and understanding.”
The comedy duo were not scheduled to finish their Spicy Meatball Tour until July 26, and fans were left furious at the abrupt cancellation as tickets were due to be refunded.
Many Tenacious D fans have also criticized Black in the wake of the controversy, calling him a “coward” for betraying his longtime bandmate.
“The fact that Jack Black turned on Kyle Gass honestly pisses me off, I’m going to have to take a long walk,” one person wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“You’re mad at Jack Black for what Kyle Gass said. I’m mad at Jack Black for turning his back on a 30-year relationship in order to maintain his celebrity status,” another commented.
The outing came hours before Black cancelled Tenacious D’s Australian tour on Tuesday and condemned bandmate Kyle Gass (both pictured) after he made a divisive joke about Trump.
Another unimpressed fan said: “It’s not Jack Black who’s throwing Kyle Gass overboard for making a Trump joke. What an absolute coward.”
“There has to be something more behind this Tenacious D thing. You don’t end a relationship like that and ruin the crew’s livelihood over a joke. What’s tea?” one said.
Black’s decision comes just a month after he delivered a speech at a star-studded fundraiser in Los Angeles for President Joe Biden, where he said “democracy was at stake” in the November election.
The cancellation of the tour comes after some Australian politicians criticised Gass’ joke about the shooting, which killed one spectator and injured others.
Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Now Australia’s ambassador to the United States, he said the joke had made him “physically ill”.
“It makes me sick when anyone makes jokes about violence. It makes me physically sick,” Rudd said. news.com.au while speaking at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
“People might think it’s a bit ‘funny’ to talk about these things at a concert. It’s not.
‘These are threats to physical life; this is about the near-assassination of a former and future president of the United States, depending on the votes of the American people.
Gass caused controversy on stage in Sydney when Black brought him a birthday cake and asked him to make a wish, prompting the singer to reply: “Don’t miss Trump next time.”
‘This involves the murder of innocent civilians and the serious injury of two people.’
Meanwhile, Senator Ralph Babet, an avid Trump supporter, called for Tenacious D to be deported from Australia over Gass’s comment.
Babet, who is a conservative member of the United Australia Party, condemned Gass’s comment as as ‘heinous, disgusting, filthy, evil and not acceptable in any way, shape or form’.
He described Trump as “the future 47th president,” despite the fact that Trump is still in the race against President Joe Biden ahead of the November 2024 election.
“Tenacious D should be immediately banned from the country after wishing for Donald Trump’s assassination at his Sydney concert,” Babet said in a statement.
‘I condemn in the strongest possible terms the call for political violence made by Tenacious D in Sydney on Sunday.
‘Advocating or desiring the assassination of a president is heinous, disgusting, filthy, evil and not acceptable in any way, shape or form.
The comment referred to how a shot fired by 20-year-old gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks missed Trump’s head and went through his ear during a shooting at his campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
“It was not a joke, he was very serious when he wished the president dead.”
Babet called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to support her call for the band’s deportation as she continued her strongly worded statement.
Babet changed her cover photo on X to a photograph of Trump bleeding after the rally shooting, while she previously wrote a letter of support for the former US president ahead of the 2024 election.
Separately, Kyle Sandilands also banned Tenacious D from his radio show for life in light of the comment.
