Tenacious D cancels tour

Tenacious D have cancelled the remainder of their Australian and New Zealand tour after a joke about the attempted assassination of Donald Trump sparked fierce controversy.

The rockers were set to play six shows across New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Adelaide, Wellington and Auckland, all of which have now been cancelled.

News of the cancellation comes after the group played two shows in Sydney at the ICC Theatre, where Jack Black presented bandmate Kyle Gass with a birthday cake on stage.

When asked to make a wish, Gass joked “Don’t miss Trump next time”.

The joke has sparked widespread outrage, with Senator Babet claiming Gass “wished for the death of the President”.

“To advocate and or wish for the assassination of a President is egregious, disgusting, filthy, evil, and not acceptable in any way, shape or form,” Mr Babet said.

“This was not a joke, he was deadly serious when he wished for the death of the President.”

Mr Babet also called for the pair’s visas to be revoked.

“Australia wrongly locked up Novak Djokovic and deported him because he allegedly undermined public trust in vaccination. Allowing Tenacious D to remain in Australia after calling for the death of a President is unthinkable, and affirms the weakness of our current Prime Minister.”

Kevin Rudd also lashed the joke, claiming it made him feel “sick”.

“It makes me feel sick someone would joke about violence. Physically ill,” he told news.com.au.

“People might think it’s a bit of ‘funny haha’ at a concert to run off at the mouth off about this stuff.

“It’s not.”

Mr Rudd added Black and Gass need to “grow up and find a decent job”.

“It’s about threats to physical life; it’s about the near assassination of a former and prospective President of the United States, depending on the votes of the American people,” he said.

“It’s about the murder of innocent civilians and two people being seriously wounded.

“These people need to grow up and find a decent job”.

Black has since said he no longer felt it was “appropriate” to continue the tour in a statement on social media on Tuesday night.

“I was blindsided by what was said at the show on Sunday. I would never condone hate speech or encourage political violence in any form,” he wrote on Instagram.

“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.”

It comes after the group initially postponed their Tuesday Newcastle show.

Australian ticketholders will automatically be refunded in full — including refundable ticket purchase — to the original payment method.

No action is required, though patrons should allow about 30 business days for the refund to appear, Frontier said in a statement.

Refunds will be processed automatically for New Zealand ticketholders too, and should appear in accounts within 14-21 days.

“If the tickets were transferred to you, the refund will go to the fan who originally purchased the tickets from Ticketmaster,” the Frontier statement also said.

The affected shows include:

Tuesday 16 July at Newcastle Entertainment Centre, Thursday 18 July at ​Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Saturday 20 July at ​Rod Laver Arena, Monday 22 July at ​Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Wednesday 24 July at TSB Arena and Friday 26 July at Spark Arena.