Billie Joe anti-Trump comment on Instagram

[Brooklyn Baby]

"This isn't funny."

That's where he's wrong. He's reached levels of triggered that shouldn't even be possible  "fuck you fuck this fuck off get the fuck off of instagram never listen to my fucking music again."

Frankly, I've seen 11 year olds on GDC react better to online provocation than this grown ass man is reacting to his insta comment section right now. 

[Beerjeezus]

4 minutes ago, Brooklyn Baby said:

"This isn't funny."

That's where he's wrong. He's reached levels of triggered that shouldn't even be possible

#wiggered 

[Brooklyn Baby]

11 hours ago, AlissaGoesRAWR said:

Yeah, but a bummer he doesn’t interact nearly as much with people who emit positive energy in the comments. It’s almost like he’s rewarding the idiots. I wouldn’t be too surprised if some fans were crazy enough to purposefully say extreme pro-Trump stuff just to get a reply. 

This is a really good point. There are so many crazy fans out there who would do ANYTHING to get Billie to talk to them, including baiting him. 

It's still silly (and hilarious) that this 40-something year old man is allowing people to wind him up on instagram like this, but I'm surprised his wife or his management haven't done something to protect him from being exploited by nutso fans who just want the thrill of a personal reply from their ~hero.~

[pacejunkie punk]

7 minutes ago, Brooklyn Baby said:

This is a really good point. There are so many crazy fans out there who would do ANYTHING to get Billie to talk to them, including baiting him. 

It's still silly (and hilarious) that this 40-something year old man is allowing people to wind him up on instagram like this, but I'm surprised his wife or his management haven't done something to protect him from being exploited by nutso fans who just want the thrill of a personal reply from their ~hero.~

Well the timing of Adrienne’s post is pretty funny. I can imagine he went to her after all “What did I do?” and this was her idea of helping. Sorry guys, keep in mind he was a cute kid once and forgive him. Where would he be without her? 

[Chin for a Day]

1 minute ago, pacejunkie punk said:

Well the timing of Adrienne’s post is pretty funny. I can imagine he went to her after all “What did I do?” and this was her idea of helping. Sorry guys, keep in mind he was a cute kid once and forgive him. Where would he be without her? 

I think you have a very valid point with the timing of Adriennes' post. It could be subtle damage control  

[pacejunkie punk]

1 minute ago, Grubby Poop said:

I think you have a very valid point with the timing of Adriennes' post. It could be subtle damage control  

Seriously she’s a godsend and so is Mike. They both jumped right in after. He has to have regretted it and felt really bad.

 

[Brooklyn Baby]

3 minutes ago, Grubby Poop said:

I think you have a very valid point with the timing of Adriennes' post. It could be subtle damage control  

Wasn't there just a 3 page long discussion about how no damage control would be needed because "Everyone knows Billie's views" and him insulting his fans could "never hurt Green Day" 

[pacejunkie punk]

2 minutes ago, Brooklyn Baby said:

Wasn't there just a 3 page long discussion about how no damage control would be needed because "Everyone knows Billie's views" and him insulting his fans could "never hurt Green Day" 

Whether it hurt or not or was necessary or not I imagine he at least felt bad about it to the point where his wife and best friend wanted to do something to help. The “damage control” comment was a joke but the effect is the same. 

[Beerjeezus]

20 minutes ago, Brooklyn Baby said:

It's still silly (and hilarious) that this 40-something year old man is allowing people to wind him up on instagram like this, but I'm surprised his wife or his management haven't done something to protect him from being exploited by nutso fans who just want the thrill of a personal reply from their ~hero.~

In my experience it's practically impossible to make people not take baits. It just doesn't work that way. I've tried doing that many times and it never worked with anyone. Some people simply get trolled. They chew up whatever you throw them. It's like a compulsion.

He's a grown man, though - his wife probably has better things to do than save him from bad internet guys

[gaslight13]

So many people arguing that Billie overreacted and yet I feel like this level of debate over how he’s supposed to respond on his own personal instagram account is an overreaction. I’m not going to argue that everything about his replies is perfect but who cares? Why does it have to be? “He’s being childish, he’s falling for the bait, he’s being harsh, he shouldn’t talk about politics if he doesn’t expect some people to disagree, he can’t preach love and then react like this,” Jesus Christ.

He’s been posting about Trump for a while now, and he’s been more polite and constructive in his comments than he needed to be up till now and nothing has come of it. It was time he finally told these people to just fuck off already, even if he wasn’t replying to some of the worse comments. It was due. He wasn’t taking the “bait” he just told people to get the fuck out if they’re going to be ignorant. Taking the bait is actually trying to debate these morons. Of course he knows people will disagree. He’s just sick of ignorant comments. And, as I think someone mentioned, he’s not preaching love and tolerance of ideas that will get people killed so he’s not being hypocritical in reacting strongly to these people.

Many of you are treating him like a child who threw a tantrum over kid problems. He’s a grown adult who’s reacting on a level that’s appropriate for the state of this country right now and maybe if more people got fired up instead of worrying about being polite or self righteous all the time we’d be able to fix things in this country. And if you’re more focused on how productive his individual comments are vs what he’s actually saying with all his posts/comments then that’s more of a reflection on you than him because he’s tried it all to get his thoughts across and what he’s going for is pretty clear.

End rant.  

[WhiteTim]

5 minutes ago, gaslight13 said:

So many people arguing that Billie overreacted and yet I feel like this level of debate over how he’s supposed to respond on his own personal instagram account is an overreaction. I’m not going to argue that everything about his replies is perfect but who cares? Why does it have to be? “He’s being childish, he’s falling for the bait, he’s being harsh, he shouldn’t talk about politics if he doesn’t expect some people to disagree, he can’t preach love and then react like this,” Jesus Christ.

He’s been posting about Trump for a while now, and he’s been more polite and constructive in his comments than he needed to be up till now and nothing has come of it. It was time he finally told these people to just fuck off already, even if he wasn’t replying to some of the worse comments. It was due. He wasn’t taking the “bait” he just told people to get the fuck out if they’re going to be ignorant. Taking the bait is actually trying to debate these morons. Of course he knows people will disagree. He’s just sick of ignorant comments. And, as I think someone mentioned, he’s not preaching love and tolerance of ideas that will get people killed so he’s not being hypocritical in reacting strongly to these people.

Many of you are treating him like a child who threw a tantrum over kid problems. He’s a grown adult who’s reacting on a level that’s appropriate for the state of this country right now and maybe if more people got fired up instead of worrying about being polite or self righteous all the time we’d be able to fix things in this country. And if you’re more focused on how productive his individual comments are vs what he’s actually saying with all his posts/comments then that’s more of a reflection on you than him because he’s tried it all to get his thoughts across and what he’s going for is pretty clear.

End rant.  

You’re very wrong on ignorant comment the main comment where he exploded the most wasn’t even a ignorant comment nor was it from a Trump supporter 

also again he praises Obama who unlike Trump has bombed innocent villages killing babies children women men has deported people out of the US every single thing y’all attack Trump on Obama’s has done and has done more than any other president so yes it’s hypothetical of Billie and well anyone who attacks Trump on talking about bombing when they praise a man who actually has bombed so many places and on some of them weren’t needed or nessicary or how Trump wants to deport when Obama deported hundreds of thousands himself the only difference is Obama is smart and Trump isn’t Obama knows how to talk and Trump doesn’t 

And I like Obama I voted for him both times I don’t like Trump I hope he isn’t reelected but some of the major complaints being hurdled at Trump Obama did and broke records for it and for some reason he gets a pass so yes it’s very hypocritical of Billie to be going to Rolling Stone and other magazines praising Obama and attacking Trump over tweets when Trump hasn’t actually bombed them or have deported as much as the person he praises 

[Chin for a Day]

27 minutes ago, Brooklyn Baby said:

Wasn't there just a 3 page long discussion about how no damage control would be needed because "Everyone knows Billie's views" and him insulting his fans could "never hurt Green Day" 

Yes, there was. 

16 minutes ago, gaslight13 said:

 

Many of you are treating him like a child who threw a tantrum over kid problems. He’s a grown adult who’s reacting on a level that’s appropriate for the state of this country right now and maybe if more people got fired up instead of worrying about being polite or self righteous all the time we’d be able to fix things in this country. And if you’re more focused on how productive his individual comments are vs what he’s actually saying with all his posts/comments then that’s more of a reflection on you than him because he’s tried it all to get his thoughts across and what he’s going for is pretty clear.

 

You are so correct. "Fuck off and never listen to my music and get off my Instagram" are extremely productive comments. I can really see how that will fix our country. 

Billie's initial post was productive and spot on. But his reactions to people that posted were not. They were childish rants. Those rants took away from the message he was trying to convey.

[Fuzz]

17 hours ago, tdlyon said:

Hate to say it but Green Day/Billie isn't nearly relevant enough for this to be a news story at all.

Looking at Google results today for Billie Joe made me want to quote this post.

[DookieLukie]

Here's my take on the events and comments made so far:

First of all, I think Billie is far too intelligent to make some of the comments he did in response to trolls. From interviews in the past, he knows how to professionally make a point. This time, he took bait from a bunch of people egging him on, and he responded the same way little kids respond when they don't get their way. Does Billie have a great point? Yes. But you don't "win" arguments or make any impact whatsoever when you scream obscenities at people. He's in his 40s! "Don't listen to my records every again" sounds like something a teenager would say. Personally, I just don't quite understand why he would get so mad at social media trolls. What does he expect to accomplish here? Best case scenario is he scares a 12-yr old troll into submission.

Second, I resent the comments of "How can you be conservative and like Green Day?" I have conservative views on some things, and liberal views on others. I sometimes agree with Billie, and other times I do not. His personality has no effect on how I feel about his music and my personal connection with it. You have to be able to separate the art and the artist. John Lennon was a wife-beater. Still love his music. Chuck Berry used to transport underage girls over state lines to legally sleep with them. Still an all-time great. We just saw a lot of men exposed for abusing women, but it doesn't mean many of them aren't talented performers. So separate the art and artist and you can definitely enjoy their music. 

Third, to those who say "Billie shows these same opinions in all his recent music," I generally disagree. Are there liberal themes? Sure. But Green Day's music has always come across as politically respectful to me. Billie always seems to respect both sides and both opinions, and has criticized both sides of the political spectrum. He bashed Bush, but he never called Bush supporters "idiots." In fact, he said that he himself was the American Idiot in the Storytellers special in 2004. We all are the idiot at times. Music is so open to interpretation that you can connect to any song with whatever meaning you like. A lot of fans love Coming Clean because it's seen as a "coming out" story. I connect to it because to me, it's a story about getting older and not being understood and trying to find who you are. And I have every right to believe in that meaning.

Finally, this changes nothing for me. Still love the band and their music. I always will. This will make minor headlines then disappear. Won't affect the band long-term. The biggest issue to me is seeing Billie absolutely lose control and act like a teenager. That is not "punk." Punk is historically liberal, but it is about belonging and being accepted for who you are and what you believe. Punk is okay with disagreement and debate. That's how we grow. Punk is not the profanity-filled denouncement of other's opinions, even if they are dumb. We need to stop asking, "What's wrong with you?" and start asking, "What happened to you?" if we hope to fix politics. Not all Trump followers are "bad people" or "crazy." They are living, breathing human being just like anyone else, and their political opinions, flawed or not, have been developed through their life experiences. Stop labeling people and disregarding people. That's how Trump won, because we made anyone who supported him into social pariahs. If you want to help a Trump supporter (assuming they want help), find out why they like Trump, what their life is like, and have whatever discussion you can. Don't cuss them out and invalidate them. That strengthens their stance. And if they're trolls, then don't even bother because they're not serious anyway.

[pacejunkie punk]

29 minutes ago, Fuzz said:

Looking at Google results today for Billie Joe made me want to quote this post.

Didn’t make the earth move much did he? I bet he’s relieved. He dodged a bullet this time, but if he’s not careful he’ll be just a few steps away from being that bitter old bastard he warned about, and just when Green Day was getting fun again with the whole GFB and BITUSA thing. You can be political in a way that entertains and gets the message across much better. I thought he had figured that way. Well he’s entitled to have an off day.

[Fuzz]

2 minutes ago, pacejunkie punk said:

Didn’t make the earth move much did he? I bet he’s relieved. He dodged a bullet this time, but if he’s not careful he’ll be just a few steps away from being that bitter old bastard he warned about, and just when Green Day was getting fun again with the whole GFB and BITUSA thing. You can be political in a way that entertains and gets the message across much better. I thought he had figured that way. Well he’s entitled to have an off day.

Were you around for the American Idiot days? His comments about the inspiration for the album were not entertaining. They were divisive, and reacted to that way by a pretty collective consciousness of mainstream media.

[Chin for a Day]

5 minutes ago, DookieLukie said:

Here's my take on the events and comments made so far:

First of all, I think Billie is far too intelligent to make some of the comments he did in response to trolls. From interviews in the past, he knows how to professionally make a point. This time, he took bait from a bunch of people egging him on, and he responded the same way little kids respond when they don't get their way. Does Billie have a great point? Yes. But you don't "win" arguments or make any impact whatsoever when you scream obscenities at people. He's in his 40s! "Don't listen to my records every again" sounds like something a teenager would say. Personally, I just don't quite understand why he would get so mad at social media trolls. What does he expect to accomplish here? Best case scenario is he scares a 12-yr old troll into submission.

Second, I resent the comments of "How can you be conservative and like Green Day?" I have conservative views on some things, and liberal views on others. I sometimes agree with Billie, and other times I do not. His personality has no effect on how I feel about his music and my personal connection with it. You have to be able to separate the art and the artist. John Lennon was a wife-beater. Still love his music. Chuck Berry used to transport underage girls over state lines to legally sleep with them. Still an all-time great. We just saw a lot of men exposed for abusing women, but it doesn't mean many of them aren't talented performers. So separate the art and artist and you can definitely enjoy their music. 

Third, to those who say "Billie shows these same opinions in all his recent music," I generally disagree. Are there liberal themes? Sure. But Green Day's music has always come across as politically respectful to me. Billie always seems to respect both sides and both opinions, and has criticized both sides of the political spectrum. He bashed Bush, but he never called Bush supporters "idiots." In fact, he said that he himself was the American Idiot in the Storytellers special in 2004. We all are the idiot at times. Music is so open to interpretation that you can connect to any song with whatever meaning you like. A lot of fans love Coming Clean because it's seen as a "coming out" story. I connect to it because to me, it's a story about getting older and not being understood and trying to find who you are. And I have every right to believe in that meaning.

Finally, this changes nothing for me. Still love the band and their music. I always will. This will make minor headlines then disappear. Won't affect the band long-term. The biggest issue to me is seeing Billie absolutely lose control and act like a teenager. That is not "punk." Punk is historically liberal, but it is about belonging and being accepted for who you are and what you believe. Punk is okay with disagreement and debate. That's how we grow. Punk is not the profanity-filled denouncement of other's opinions, even if they are dumb. We need to stop asking, "What's wrong with you?" and start asking, "What happened to you?" if we hope to fix politics. Not all Trump followers are "bad people" or "crazy." They are living, breathing human being just like anyone else, and their political opinions, flawed or not, have been developed through their life experiences. Stop labeling people and disregarding people. That's how Trump won, because we made anyone who supported him into social pariahs. If you want to help a Trump supporter (assuming they want help), find out why they like Trump, what their life is like, and have whatever discussion you can. Don't cuss them out and invalidate them. That strengthens their stance. And if they're trolls, then don't even bother because they're not serious anyway.

I wish I could like this more, bravo!

[pacejunkie punk]

1 minute ago, Fuzz said:

Were you around for the American Idiot days? His comments about the inspiration for the album were not entertaining. They were divisive, and reacted to that way by a pretty collective consciousness of mainstream media.

Were they? I know some people weren’t happy and at the time almost no one was saying anything political and Green Day weren’t playing it safe, but I thought his personal expression of being lost and confused and the idiot in all this sort of tempered the message. He seemed to be going out of his way not to point the finger even though some people may have taken it that way.

[Fuzz]

Just now, pacejunkie punk said:

Were they? I know some people weren’t happy and at the time almost no one was saying anything political and Green Day weren’t playing it safe, but I thought his personal expression of being lost and confused and the idiot in all this sort of tempered the message. He seemed to be going out of his way not to point the finger even though some people may have taken it that way.

Uh, yeah. He pointed pretty directly at Bush and Cheney pretty often. I remember articles about how he said "Fuck George W. Bush" at Texas arena.

[pacejunkie punk]

2 minutes ago, Fuzz said:

Uh, yeah. He pointed pretty directly at Bush and Cheney pretty often. I remember articles about how he said "Fuck George W. Bush" at Texas arena.

But he wasn’t pointing the finger at fans who voted for Bush was he? Attacking Trump is what’s expected, then he started attacking fans. I think that’s different from what went on then.

[WhiteTim]

1 minute ago, pacejunkie punk said:

But he wasn’t pointing the finger at fans who voted for Bush was he? Attacking Trump is what’s expected, then he started attacking fans. I think that’s different from what went on then.

To be fair social media wasn’t as huge back in AI days so interaction between fans were strictly at concerts and there’s not a lot of fan and artist interaction at concerts 

[AlissaGoesRAWR]

12 minutes ago, DookieLukie said:

Second, I resent the comments of "How can you be conservative and like Green Day?" I have conservative views on some things, and liberal views on others. I sometimes agree with Billie, and other times I do not. His personality has no effect on how I feel about his music and my personal connection with it. You have to be able to separate the art and the artist. John Lennon was a wife-beater. Still love his music. Chuck Berry used to transport underage girls over state lines to legally sleep with them. Still an all-time great. We just saw a lot of men exposed for abusing women, but it doesn't mean many of them aren't talented performers. So separate the art and artist and you can definitely enjoy their music.

What I meant by that is I truly don’t understand how people can be surprised or offended by Billie’s political views or enjoy something that so obviously contradicts their own political views because it’s becoming increasingly difficult to “separate the art from the artist.” The band has hardly been subtle in its recent art about its views on Trump (and Bush during the AI days). They’re all over social media, ranting at shows, chanting on TV performances, making anti-Trump music videos... I assume Chuck Berry wasn’t making music videos about underage girls and John Lennon wasn’t chanting about beating his wife in the middle of a show. 

[Billie Hoe]

Like most of us probably have the DVD of him saying "And my name is George W. Bush, actually my name is asshole" and he was wearing a Bush mask with "Idiot" written on it during shows. Him tearing into Trump / a president is not a new thing he came up with.

[DookieLukie]

9 minutes ago, AlissaGoesRAWR said:

What I meant by that is I truly don’t understand how people can be surprised or offended by Billie’s political views or enjoy something that so obviously contradicts their own political views because it’s becoming increasingly difficult to “separate the art from the artist.” The band has hardly been subtle in its recent art about its views on Trump (and Bush during the AI days). They’re all over social media, ranting at shows, chanting on TV performances, making anti-Trump music videos... I assume Chuck Berry wasn’t making music videos about underage girls and John Lennon wasn’t chanting about beating his wife in the middle of a show. 

His views don't offend me. His delivery of those views was childish in this instance, and that is what I disagree with. Even live, his anti-Trump speech during letterbomb (and sprinkled in randomly) made even my very liberal friend roll his eyes when we went. But the concern was amazing, and I can live with a poorly-executed speech once in a while. Plus, he said the same speech at every single show. It's so scripted that it has no power.

Again, this is not about the message as much as it's about how he is giving that message.

[gaslight13]

57 minutes ago, WhiteTim said:

You’re very wrong on ignorant comment the main comment where he exploded the most wasn’t even a ignorant comment nor was it from a Trump supporter 

also again he praises Obama who unlike Trump has bombed innocent villages killing babies children women men has deported people out of the US every single thing y’all attack Trump on Obama’s has done and has done more than any other president so yes it’s hypothetical of Billie and well anyone who attacks Trump on talking about bombing when they praise a man who actually has bombed so many places and on some of them weren’t needed or nessicary or how Trump wants to deport when Obama deported hundreds of thousands himself the only difference is Obama is smart and Trump isn’t Obama knows how to talk and Trump doesn’t 

And I like Obama I voted for him both times I don’t like Trump I hope he isn’t reelected but some of the major complaints being hurdled at Trump Obama did and broke records for it and for some reason he gets a pass so yes it’s very hypocritical of Billie to be going to Rolling Stone and other magazines praising Obama and attacking Trump over tweets when Trump hasn’t actually bombed them or have deported as much as the person he praises 

I'll quote myself here "even if he wasn’t replying to some of the worse comments" <<I acknowledged that at least one of his replies wasn't directed at the right person.  

Obama is irrelevant to this discussion. He's not praising him in this post, and believe it or not it's possible to like a president and not agree with EVERY decision they made. Nuclear bombs are next level by the way. Not justifying Obama's choices but let's not act like nuclear war is the same thing. 
 

1 hour ago, Grubby Poop said:

You are so correct. "Fuck off and never listen to my music and get off my Instagram" are extremely productive comments. I can really see how that will fix our country. 

Billie's initial post was productive and spot on. But his reactions to people that posted were not. They were childish rants. Those rants took away from the message he was trying to convey.

You completely missed my point. He's not trying to fix things with each comment. With this one, he was trying to get ignorant people to get off his Instagram and take their stupid comments elsewhere. And I don't think he cares if he succeeded or not. He was blowing off steam, that's all it is, and we're acting like he sent out a proclamation. He's angry about something that should anger people. Children get angry when their favorite TV show isn't on. Adults get angry when the leader of the most powerful country on the planet is playing around with the most powerful weapons on the planet like they're toys and people are supporting him!