Fact Check: Jack Black Lost Nearly $15M in Concert Tours 'After He Went Woke'?

Claim:

Tenacious D frontman Jack Black lost nearly $15 million in concert tours "after he went woke" in the summer of 2024.

Rating:

Labeled Satire ( About this rating? )

A rumor that Jack Black had l ost nearly $15 million in concert tours after going "woke" circulated widely online in the summer of 2024. For example, the Facebook account SpaceX Fanclub posted on July 23, 2024:

(SpaceX Fanclub/Facebook)

The Facebook post drew 7,000 comments, with many readers interpreting the rumor as good news. "😂😆 he still has his movie career 🤣," one commenter wrote, to which another responded, "He was actually only sorry and cancelled because his insurance pulled the rug from him."

In a comment on the post, SpaceX Fanclub linked to an article on Esspots.com, the site affiliated with the Facebook account. The article stated:

Breaking: Jack Black Loses Nearly $15 Million in Concert Tours After He Went Woke

Looks like Jack Black's mouth got him into hot water – and lost him a pretty penny! The actor's anti-Trump comments have tanked his concert ticket sales, leaving him $15 million in the red. Who knew being a Trump critic could be so costly?

Jack Black, beloved actor and frontman of Tenacious D has taken a financial hit to the tune of nearly $15 million. And why? All because of a controversial comment made by his bandmate, Kyle Gass, about Donald Trump.

In the Sydney concert, a shocking remark was made by Kyle Gass, who wished that some future assassin wouldn't have to miss his target on Trump. Boy, oh boy! And as expected, this led to an outrage among the fans and reduced ticket sales at once. Poor Jack had to cancel the rest of his tour and disassociate himself from the explosive comment.

However, the item was not a factual recounting of real-life events. While Black canceled the remainder of Tenacious D's Spicy Meatball Tour dates following the backlash from bandmate Gass' remarks onstage in Sydney, no evidence supports the claim of a specific monetary loss of "nearly $15 million."

The tour began in May 2023 and was on its final leg . Multiple reports indicate that Black canceled a total of six shows in Australia and New Zealand , as well as a handful of dates in the U.S. The band's official website listed no upcoming events .

Esspots.com, a subsidiary of SpaceXMania.com that describes its content as humorous or satirical, originated the rumor about Black's purported monetary loss of nearly $15 million in concert tours due to going woke. A "Rated Satire" badge was displayed in the upper-left corner of the Facebook meme. Esspots.com's " Disclaimer " page states:

Welcome to Esspots.com, a website that specializes in satire, parody, and humor. Before you proceed to read our content, we would like to emphasize that nothing on this website is real. All of the articles, stories, and commentary found on Esspots.com are entirely fictitious and created for the purpose of entertainment only.

We understand that satire can sometimes be mistaken for actual news or events, but we want to make it clear that we do not publish factual or accurate information. We do not intend to deceive or mislead our readers in any way, and all of our content should be taken with a grain of salt.

The controversy over Black's apparent wokeness started when, during the Tenacious D concert in Sydney on July 14, 2024, he presented Gass with a birthday cake onstage and prompted him to "make a wish." Gass quipped, "Don't miss Trump next time," referencing a sniper who shot at Trump at a rally in Butler, PA., the day before, injuring the former president's ear.

The wide sharing of Gass' comments on social media prompted Black to issue the following apology on his official Instagram account:

(jackblack/Instagram)

Snopes has addressed similar satirical claims from SpaceX Fanclub in the past, including the assertion that Kid Rock refused to let Taylor Swift onstage with him , and a rumor that Black was thrown out of the Republican National Convention for being "woke."

For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.

Sources:

Brandle, Lars. "Tenacious D Concert Postponed Following Controversial Trump Comment." Billboard , 16 July 2024, https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/tenacious-d-concert-postponed-trump-comment-1235729676/. Instagram . https://www.instagram.com/p/C9eJbqbs0QZ/?hl=en. Accessed 2 Aug. 2024. --- . https://www.instagram.com/p/C9e5msPpC3y/?hl=en. Accessed 2 Aug. 2024. Jack Black Cancels Tenacious D Tour after Kyle Gass's Comments about Donald Trump . https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0dmx4p4m0lo. Accessed 2 Aug. 2024. "Jack Black Ends Tenacious D Tour after Bandmate's Trump Shooting Comment." AP News , 16 July 2024, https://apnews.com/article/tenacious-d-jack-black-kyle-gass-donald-trump-c3a5e12984e360141eed697d582622b7. "Jack Black's Band Tenacious D Cancels Tour after Backlash to Bandmate's Trump Shooting Comment." KCRA , 16 July 2024, https://www.kcra.com/article/jack-black-tenacious-d-tour-canceled-trump-comment/61612025. "Jack Black's Tenacious D Band Cancels Australia Tour after Comments on Trump Shooting." Reuters , 17 July 2024. www.reuters.com , https://www.reuters.com/world/jack-blacks-tenacious-d-band-cancels-australia-tour-after-comments-trump-2024-07-17/. Log in or Sign up to View . https://www.facebook.com/login/. Accessed 2 Aug. 2024. Nelson, Allie. "Allow Jack Black to School You in Wealth." Parade , 2 Jan. 2024, https://parade.com/celebrities/jack-black-net-worth. Paul, Larisha. "Jack Black Cancels Tenacious D Tour After Kyle Gass' Controversial Trump Comment." Rolling Stone , 16 July 2024, https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/tenacious-d-cancel-tour-jack-black-kyle-gass-donald-trump-joke-1235061226/. Robin, Alex. "Breaking: Jack Black Loses Nearly $15 Million in Concert Tours After He Went Woke." Esspots , 23 July 2024, https://esspots.com/breaking-jack-black-loses-nearly-15-million-in-concert-tours-after-he-went-woke/. Tenacious D | Concert Dates & Tickets | Frontier Touring . https://www.frontiertouring.com/tenaciousd. Accessed 2 Aug. 2024. "Tenacious D - The Official Website!" Tenacious D , https://tenaciousd.com/. Accessed 2 Aug. 2024. "Tenacious D Cancels Tour after Being Criticized for Joke about Trump Assassination Attempt." NBC News , 16 July 2024, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/tenacious-d-cancels-tour-criticized-joke-trump-assassination-attempt-rcna162092. "Tenacious D Concert History." Concert Archives , 22 July 2024, https://www.concertarchives.org/bands/tenacious-d. "The Spicy Meatball Tour." Wikipedia , 22 July 2024. Wikipedia , https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Spicy_Meatball_Tour&oldid=1236090939. Wiseman, Andreas. "Jack Black Cancels Tenacious D Tour, Says He Was 'Blindsided' By Partner's Trump Assassination Comment; Kyle Gass 'Incredibly Sorry' But Dropped By Agency." Deadline , 16 July 2024, https://deadline.com/2024/07/jack-black-cancels-tenacious-d-tour-blindsided-trump-assassination-joke-1236011403/. Instagram . https://www.instagram.com/rockfeednet/p/C9dBYnRv7Jo/?locale=%E5%8C%97%E4%BA%AC%E6%88%BF%E5%B1%B1%E5%8C%BA%E6%B4%8B%E5%A6%9E%E4%BC%B4%E6%B8%B8%E2%96%A0%E9%80%89%E5%A6%B9%E7%BD%91%E5%9D%80zxj3.com%E2%96%A0%E9%AB%98%E7%AB%AF%E5%AD%A6%E7%94%9F%E5%A6%B9%E4%BC%B4%E6%B8%B8%E3%80%8E%E9%80%89%E5%A6%B9%E7%BD%91%E5%9D%80zxj3.com%E3%80%8F%E6%8A%80%E5%B8%88%E6%9C%8D%E5%8A%A1%E2%96%B2%E9%80%89%E5%A6%B9%E7%BD%91%E5%9D%80zxj3.com%E2%96%BC&hl=en&img_index=1. Accessed 2 Aug. 2024.