‘King of the Hill’ Fans Revolt Against the Show’s Instagram Tribute to Jonathan Joss
Yesterday, King of the Hill co-creators Mike Judge, Greg Daniels and showrunner Saladin Patterson honored slain KOTH star Jonathan Joss, who was shot and killed by a neighbor at his San Antonio home on Sunday night, with a post shared to the series’ official Instagram page, detailing just how much the John Redcorn actor’s “voice will be missed.”
“Jonathan brought King of the Hill’s ‘John Redcorn’ to life for over a dozen seasons, including in the revival,” read the post, which included a photo of Joss and his on-screen persona. “We extend our deepest condolences to Jonathan’s friends and family.”
Some fans, however, weren’t sold on the sentiment behind this statement, flocking to the comments with questions surrounding how the KOTH brain trust handled Joss’ challenging final months. Namely, why Joss was excluded from the King of the Hill at the ATX TV Festival in Austin, Texas, especially after Joss lost his San Antonio home and three dogs to a fire last January that Joss’ husband, Tristan Kern de Gonzales, implied may have been a homophobic hate crime.
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“ when you dismissed him and your audience laughed at him when expressing his house got burnt down? At a ? Me too!” one wrote, referencing how Joss addressed the King of the Hill team from the audience during their appearance last weekend.
“He unfortunately lost his life due to a hate crime, and y’all laughed/ignored him when he asked for help,” added another fan, while a third onished the show’s creative team for how they “dismissed” Joss’ struggles.
“You all got up on stage at that and dismissed his heartbreaking story and allowed the fans to laugh at him as he was probably fighting back tears as he recounted the tragic story of his home burning down which killed his dogs,” they commented.
Though the San Antonio Police Department claims that Joss’ killing wasn’t a hate crime, writing that they have “found no evidence to indicate that Mr. Joss’ murder was related to his sexual orientation” in a statement shared to social media, Gonzales, who was with Joss at the time of his death said the shooting continues to maintain otherwise.
“He was murdered by someone who could not stand the sight of two men loving each other,” Gonzales wrote in a post shared to Joss’ Facebook page on Monday.