People across the nation have lost jobs after posts about Trump shooting
It's not just Tenacious D bandmate Kyle Gass. In the wake of the violent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump's life, plenty of people took to social media to make jokes and comments, and they're reaping the consequences.
School employees, a restaurant worker, a fire chief and a political aide have all lost their jobs or resigned after outrage over their posts, according to statements by their employers and news reports.
Meanwhile, Jack Black ? the other member of the Tenacious D duo ? said he was "blindsided" as he announced he was ending the rest of their tour and would pause any plans to work with Gass again in the future.
Gass briefly complained on stage that the shooter had missed – a sentiment repeated in various forms across social media in the hours after the assassination attempt.
Celebrities' comments are certainly in the spotlight after a tragic incident, but regular people need to be careful about what they say, too, even if it is meant in jest, communications experts say. Joking about an assassination attempt that left a citizen dead is going too far.
"No matter how private your life is, everybody has an audience," said Karen North, a professor of digital social media at the University of South California and a psychologist. "And there’s always an audience for people misbehaving."
TENACIOUS D: Jack Black's bandmate, Donald Trump and when jokes go too far
Social media posts end in firings, resignations
An instructor at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky, was put on unpaid leave over what university officials said on Monday was an "offensive and unacceptable social media post." By Tuesday, John James was no longer employed there, though it's not clear if he resigned or was fired, the Louisville Courier Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported.
James' comments about the shooter missing were screenshotted and posted by the conservative social media account Libs of TikTok.
"Words and actions that condone violence are unacceptable and contrary to our values, which call for respecting the intrinsic value and dignity of every individual," Jason Cissell, assistant vice president for communication at Bellarmine, said in a statement to the Courier Journal.
James didn't respond to a request for comment.
Similar comments about the shooting made by other non-celebrities have prompted backlash, too.
Another post by Libs of TikTok highlighted comments made by a worker at the Tupelo Honey Southern Kitchen & Bar, a restaurant with locations in several states. The restaurant later said in a post that the worker was no longer employed and had violated its social media policy.
Others out of a job include a middle school behavior facilitator in South Dakota and a Pennsylvania fire chief. In Wayne, Pennsylvania, the Wayne Business Association said its secretary resigned after a post about the shooting.
Social media is the 'town square': Be careful what you say online
The idea that people should be fired for their social media posts has come from all sides of the political spectrum in recent years, North said. But this time, people should be able to agree some comments are inappropriate.
"When it comes to things like wishing somebody died, there is nothing more horrible than making public statements about that," she said.
Social media removes the social cues we get from typical interactions. If you start to make an inappropriate comment or joke among work colleagues, for example, you might notice them cringe or look away, and then apologize and walk back what you said. When you post something online, the reaction comes later, North said.
The desire to be the first to share an idea with your circle might prevent you from asking yourself whether you'd say this to an audience, or whether it should be kept around the dinner table with immediate family, North said. And remember the cardinal rule of social media: Once it's out there, it's out there forever.
"Social media has become the town square," she said, "where people are put in the stocks and held out there to be humiliated because of their actions."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Not just Tenacious D: People lose jobs over Trump shooting comments
