Yesterday, Tom Araya re-posted a controversial photo on Slayer's official Instagram. The photo depicted the band photoshopped with Donald Trump in the photo. The controversy didn't stem from the photo being posted, but rather the message Tom posted along with the photo, saying he was surprised at "so many snowflakes commenting their distaste for the new president," and adding "Like him or not he is the president."
Araya also was surprised that the post was removed, so he reposted it. While one might assume some sort of Instagram conspiracy, it's now clear that another member of the band clearly deleted the photo.
Rolling Stone reached out to the band and Slayer, collectively released the following statement:
"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."
The band did not acknowledge Araya's homophobic comments directed at a gay fan within the post, joking that "Mike Pence turning fruits into vegetables," with laughter emojis, making light of Pence's support for gay conversion therapy.
Here's where Tom didn't realize his mistake. Now that this has become a story, you can be for the entirety of their tour this summer, the band will have to be answering questions about this. Congrats, Tom, you just created a new narrative for all the journalists to grill you about this summer.
