“King of the Hill” fans are not happy with how the show’s creators paid tribute to Jonathan Joss following his shocking murder.
Joss, who voiced John Redcorn on the Fox animated series, was tragically gunned down outside his home in San Antonio, Texas, on Sunday, June 1.
“King of the Hill” creators Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, as well as the showrunner of the series’ upcoming revival, Saladin Patterson, took to Instagram a few days later to remember the 59-year-old actor.
“Rest in peace, Jonathan Joss,” the trio wrote on Tuesday alongside pictures of Joss and his character. “Jonathan brought King of the Hill’s ‘John Redcorn’ to life for over a dozen seasons, including in the upcoming revival.”
“His voice will be missed at King of the Hill,” they continued, “and we extend our deepest condolences to Jonathan’s friends and family.”
But Judge, Daniels and Patterson were quickly slammed by fans over their “pathetic” tribute — particularly because Joss was allegedly escorted out of a “King of the Hill” panel at the ATX TV Festival in Austin, Texas, just two days before his death.
“You give a f–k now?” one angry fan wrote. “He was just begging for help and y’all dismissed him.”
“You people should be ashamed,” added another. “I love the show, but I won’t be watching the revival. Why was he not invited to the panel? Why were his cries for help not taken seriously?”
“The fact that you guys dismissed him while he was trying to speak out for what has happened to him is really sad!” commented a third. “You should be ashamed of yourselves.”
“Y’all don’t have a backbone, do you?” a fourth fan added. “This was a hate crime. And you can’t even take a real stance and support his husband? How pathetic.”
The alleged incident at the ATX TV Festival unfolded on Friday, May 30, when Joss approached a microphone during the Q&A portion of the “King of the Hill” panel.
He revealed how his home had burned down three months earlier and claimed that it was a targeted incident “because I’m gay.”
Joss was reportedly escorted out of the venue after walking near the stage, a witness told People. He was fatally shot two days later.
Sigfredo Ceja Alvarez, Joss’ 56-year-old neighbor, was accused of pulling the trigger.
Although Alvarez was arrested and charged with felony first-degree murder and even admitted to the crime, per the police report obtained by The Post, he was later released on $200K bail.
Joss’ husband, Tristan Kern de Gonzales, has claimed that the “Parks and Recreation” actor’s murder was a homophobic hate crime.
While investigators initially dismissed the claims, they backtracked on Thursday and admitted that it was “way premature” to rule out the possibility.
“We issued a statement the day after Jonathan Joss’s murder that was way, way, way premature,” San Antonio Police Chief William McManus told reporters. “We shouldn’t have done it.”
Meanwhile, Joss and Alvarez’s neighbors have since claimed that the “King of the Hill” voice actor was storming up and down the street with a pitchfork shortly before the suspect confronted him with a loaded rifle.
The argument that ended in Joss’ death was said to be the culmination of a yearslong feud between the actor and Alvarez.
“I’ve been here six years, and when we moved in, it was already going on, so it’s just been years of feud with these two,” a neighbor told KGW 8. “Weapons, everything, gun shootings at all times, hours of the night.”
“Just shooting rounds at their own property and stuff. You could just hear the multiple rounds just blowing off on both ends, both ends, and he would be yelling a lot,” they added. “I have bullet holes in my house.”
