Update – January 25th 06:41pm:
Slayer‘s camp have issued the following statement to Rolling Stone regarding Araya‘s recent controversial posts:
“As was verified by Tom, this was his post, is not something the band would have posted if asked, and does not belong on a Slayer social page. We all have our personal opinions, some of which we have voiced in the past, but Slayer has never endorsed any political party or any candidate, and the band intends to keep it that way.”
Original Story:
Yesterday, January 24th, Slayer vocalist/bassist Tom Araya stirred the pot with this Instagram post, which featured a photoshopped image of the band with current U.S. President Donald Trump. As with anything Trump related in this current political climate, the reaction was highly divisive.
Araya also alleged there might be a conspiracy at play as the original post he made featuring the image a day or so prior mysteriously disappeared from Instagram. However, he also was a bit brash in addressing the opinions of those who don’t support Trump on his repost, which unsurprisingly led to a lot of outcry. Over a thousand comments were posted, some of which Araya continued to reply to throughout the day.
One of those comments was a gay joke Araya made to a fan regarding U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and his controversial stance on the LGBTQ community and their rights. It has since drawn a new wave of criticism on its own. The user who Araya replied to with the joke identified as gay and fired back at him for it. Here’s that exchange:
Later in the comments Arya added:
“…to everybody that has commented thanks for insight… this is how fake news gets started, not once did I say that I supported trump… and assuming I speak for the band you are mistaking .. the picture did exactly what I thought it would do… piss some of you off”
