Tag: Charlie Kirk

PlayStation Studio Boss Breaks Silence On Dev Fired For Charlie Kirk Joke

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For the last week, a war has been waging in the YouTube comments of each new Ghost of Yotei trailer as the PlayStation 5 exclusive nears its release date early next month. That’s because a developer at Sucker Punch Productions joked about the assassination of Charlie Kirk on social media. Sony confirmed it had parted ways with the employee following a right-wing pressure campaign, but declined to issue any further statement. Now studio head and co-founder Brian Fleming has commented on the firing directly in a new interview.

Sucker Punch artist Drew Harrison, a nearly 10-year veteran of the studio, posted “I hope the shooter’s name is Mario so that Luigi knows his bro got his back” on the day the assassination took place. Less than 24 hours later she confirmed she’d been fired. “Drew Harrison is no longer an employee of Sucker Punch Productions,” a spokesperson for Sony told Kotaku at the time.

“The facts are accurate,” Fleming told Stephen Totilo’s Game File when asked about the situation. “Drew’s no longer an employee here. I think we’re aligned as a studio that celebrating or making light of someone’s murder is a deal-breaker for us, and we condemn that, kind of in no uncertain terms. That’s sort of our studio, and that’s kind of where we are.”

YouTube / Kotaku

Despite Harrison’s swift firing, angry internet users, urged on by clout-chasing culture warriors like Mark “Grummz” Kern, have been demanding Sony take action against any staff members who may have liked or reposted Harrison’s comment, while also targeting other companies and their employees over potential anti-Kirk sentiment. That included Bethesda, which was accused of mocking the right-wing podcast’s supporters when it posted a clip from Indiana Jones and the Great Circle of the famous Nazi puncher saying to a kitten, “You don’t care much about these fascists, do you?” It was later deleted.

Microsoft Gaming employees were also targeted, including by Elon Musk. “We’re aware of the views expressed by a small subset of our employees regarding recent events,” the company announced in response on September 12. “We take matters like this very seriously and we are currently reviewing each individual situation. Comments celebrating violence against anyone are unacceptable and do not align with our values.” A spokesperson for the company declined to comment when asked if anyone had been fired from Microsoft following these investigations.

“Sucker Punch is amazing & one of the last few bright shining lights in the game industry,” Harrison posted this week. “I still support them and I cannot condone any animosity directed at them. It’s truly all the best people.”

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Ethan Gach

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September 19, 2025
How Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk’s Widow and Turning Point USA’s CEO, Rose to Power

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By the end of 2018, Erika launched her Proclaim Christian streetwear brand—which now sells baby blankets, adult clothing, luggage tags, leather bookmarks, engraved straws, beanies, and socks. Charlie appeared alongside his wife in the marketing photos for some of the merchandise—as well as the promotional art for her podcast—a blurring of their personal and professional lives that was present from the start. Turning Point USA not only backed Trump during his 2020 and 2024 elections; it also sponsored their 2021 wedding reception, according to the AP.

Vice President JD Vance, second lady Usha Vance and Erika Kirk deplane Air Force Two while escorting the body of Charlie Kirk on September 11, 2025 in Phoenix, Arizona. The scene calls to mind Jackie Kennedy clutching her brother-in-law Robert Kennedy’s as she watched her husband’s casket being removed from Air Force One in 1963.

Eric Thayer/Getty Images

In the days since Kirk’s assassination, the Trump administration has treated him like a national hero—with Vice President JD Vance, his wife, Usha, and Air Force Two deployed to escort the casket to Arizona. Erika, mourning in all black and sunglasses, was photographed clutching the second lady’s hand as she exited the plane.

The visual called to mind a black-and-white photo of Jackie Kennedy after her husband’s 1963 assassination. In shock, with blood on her pink-and-black skirt suit, she clutched the hand of her brother-in-law Robert Kennedy as she watched her husband’s casket being removed from Air Force One. In the days afterward, Jackie Kennedy meticulously planned her husband’s state funeral, drawing on historic symbolism and imagery to begin shaping her husband’s legacy behind the scenes. This immediate period following Kennedy’s death is when the late president’s widow invented the shimmering fairy tale of Camelot.

But this is the social media age, and Erika, a MAGA-first wife turned widow, has grieved on the public platform. She posted a 12-slide Instagram carousel depicting her sitting over her husband’s casket, kissing Charlie’s lifeless hands, Charlie’s casket being transported, and Usha comforting her. “I have no idea what any of this means,” Erika wrote alongside the haunting images and videos. “But baby I know you do and so does our Lord.”

And Erika’s efforts to shape her husband’s legacy thus far have not been as subtle: Speaking last Friday, she said, “Now and for all eternity, he will stand at his savior’s side, wearing the glorious crown of a martyr.” In that address, she served her husband after death as she had during life. “She doesn’t make it about her,” commended a social media user reposted on X by Hugoboom. “It’s all about HIS name and HIS legacy.” The Turning Point USA statement announcing Erika as her husband’s successor made it clear she would be continuing his mission: “We will not surrender or kneel before evil,” board members said. “We will carry on.”

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Julie Miller

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September 19, 2025
Republicans support free speech, unless it offends them

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Last week, a gunman in Utah shot and killed conservative activist Charlie Kirk. It was a brutal and tragic event, regardless of one’s politics. And yet the fallout of Kirk’s murder has revealed a disturbing hostility toward free speech on the political right.

Republicans have long cast themselves as defenders of free speech against cancel culture and the censorial impulses of the political left. And there was merit to the argument—Reason has covered many cases of overreach.

But over the last week, MAGA Republicans have scoured social media for government employees posting about Kirk’s murder, contacting employers in an attempt to get them fired. “Kirk’s online defenders have snitch-tagged the employers of government workers over social media posts saying they don’t care about the assassination, that they didn’t like Kirk even as they condemn his assassination, and even criticizing Kirk prior to his assassination,” Reason‘s Christian Britschgi wrote this week. Even for nongovernmental employees, social media detectives apparently compiled a database with tens of thousands of people who criticized Kirk, including their names and employers.

Of course, that’s just people online. It’s not like those with government power are advocating such a thing, right?

“I would think maybe their [broadcast] license should be taken away,” President Donald Trump told reporters this week on Air Force One, about TV networks. “All they do is hit Trump. They’re licensed. They’re not allowed to do that.”

“When you see someone celebrating Charlie’s murder, call them out. And hell, call their employer,” Vice President J.D. Vance said while guest-hosting Kirk’s podcast this week. “We don’t believe in political violence, but we do believe in civility.”

Vance’s argument bears a striking resemblance to the comments made just a few years ago by his ideological enemies. When certain public and not-so-public figures received backlash for offensive statements, some commentators noted that this was not cancel culture, it was “consequence culture”—people merely experiencing the consequences of their actions.

It’s no surprise that Trump has no principles on free speech—from the beginning of his first term, he called the press the “enemy of the American people.” But Vance’s position marks a notable pivot from just a few months ago.

“Just as the Biden administration seemed desperate to silence people for speaking their minds, so the Trump administration will do precisely the opposite,” Vance said in a speech at the Munich Security Conference in February. “Under Donald Trump’s leadership, we may disagree with your views, but we will fight to defend your right to offer them in the public square, agree or disagree.”

Now, Vance seems less keen on defending someone’s right to offer views that he personally disagrees with. Unfortunately, he’s not alone.

This week, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr criticized TV host Jimmy Kimmel for comments made about Kirk during his show. Carr openly intimated that ABC should take action or potentially face reprisal; within hours, the network suspended Kimmel’s show indefinitely. (Trump later praised Carr as “outstanding. He’s a patriot. He loves our country, and he’s a tough guy.”)

Of course, when the opposing party was in power, Carr recognized the error of such a threat. In 2022, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg told podcaster Joe Rogan that during the 2020 election, Facebook artificially decreased the spread of a story about Hunter Biden in response to a request from the FBI.

“The government does not evade the First Amendment’s restraints on censoring political speech by jawboning a company into suppressing it—rather, that conduct runs headlong into those constitutional restrictions, as Supreme Court law makes clear,” Carr posted on X in response. Now that government power is in his hands, Carr apparently has fewer qualms about wielding it like that.

Other officials have made their shifting beliefs more blatant.

“Under normal times, in normal circumstances, I tend to think that the First Amendment should always be sort of the ultimate right. And that there should be almost no checks and balances on it. I don’t feel that way anymore,” Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R–Wyo.) told Semafor on Thursday. “We just can’t let people call each other those kinds of insane things and then be surprised when politicians get shot and the death threats they are receiving and then trying to get extra money for security.”

Lummis’ complaint sounds like a more aggressive version of the heckler’s veto, a “form of censorship, where a speaker’s event is canceled due to the actual or potential hostility of ideological opponents,” wrote Zach Greenberg of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. In Lummis’ telling, the government must punish people for saying offensive or inflammatory things because of how others might respond.

That’s not only completely wrong, it’s unconstitutional.

“The First Amendment to the Constitution protects speech no matter how offensive its content,” according to the American Civil Liberties Union. “Speech that deeply offends our morality or is hostile to our way of life warrants the same constitutional protection as other speech because the right of free speech is indivisible: When we grant the government the power to suppress controversial ideas, we are all subject to censorship by the state.”

Lummis, Vance, and Carr apparently see no problem policing offensive speech, at least when they’re the ones who are offended.

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Joe Lancaster

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September 19, 2025
The Media Aggressively Plays Dumb On The Liberal Hate Of Charlie Kirk’s Killer

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Once the shock of Charlie Kirk’s murder began to wear off, it became easier to notice how today’s “news” media routinely fail to live up to their own pompous prattle about their work. They don’t “hold people accountable,” they don’t “uphold democracy,” and they aren’t “independent” or “objective.” They don’t produce “news” as much as narrative.

You can see this in their energetic declarations that you couldn’t possibly ascribe a leftist motive to Kirk’s shooter … and even claimed you shouldn’t try. The story was going in an “unhelpful” direction, so it should be upended.

On CNN’s weekend show Table for Five, national security analyst Juliette Kayyem demanded we all “stop looking” for a motive. The former Obama official yelled at GOP strategist Lance Trover: “The point is, who cares? A man was killed, and you have yet to say political violence is bad. Period.”

“Who cares?” What kind of callous person can’t imagine why this man’s grieving family and friends need to know why this senseless crime happened?

On MSNBC’s Morning Joe, co-host Jonathan Lemire admonished Republicans for pointing fingers at the Left: “There’s so little we know yet about this shooter and his motives. And again, they almost shouldn’t matter because what happened here, it’s a culture, a society where we’ve had this rise in political violence. We are awash in guns.”

Motive “almost shouldn’t matter”? This makes journalists sound like they’re anti-journalism. It’s like they’re saying, “Who is rudely asking questions and seeking out answers?”

On CBS Evening News Plus, anchorman John Dickerson was aggressively playing dumb: “Five days after Charlie Kirk’s murder, the shooter’s motive remains elusive. No writings left behind. Vague, secondhand testimony.”

That’s not true. By Friday, we had the suspect Tyler Robinson in custody, and we learned the bullet casings had messages including “Hey fascist! Catch!” Another referred to a song, “Bella Ciao,” which celebrated the end of Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. But somehow these geniuses can’t figure out this man was targeting “fascists,” which is the media’s common label for President Donald Trump and his followers.

One man who’s not pretending to be dumb is Jimmy Kimmel, who claimed on Monday night: “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Kirk as anything other than one of them.” Kimmel, the “comedian,” baldly and shamelessly stated the polar opposite of the truth.

Even after the prosecutor laid out the evidence—and John Dickerson acknowledged reality, that it was no longer vague and secondhand information—Kayyem went on CNN still claiming the motive “may be unanswerable” to people who care about violence like she does. Robinson’s ideological motive somehow “does not explain the violence.”

On MSNBC, former FBI agent Chris O’Leary stayed clueless, claiming the killer had a “salad bar ideology,” nothing identifiable: “It’s certainly a motive, but is it necessarily clearly an ideology and part of a broader, you know, movement and political violence or terrorism? … It probably wouldn’t get us there.”

These purveyors of willful ignorance clearly want to absolve the Left of any responsibility for inspiring violence. They want the freedom to decry MAGA “fascists” who are “existential threats to democracy.” No one should say that could inspire kooks to hurt someone.

But Jim Acosta routinely moaned on CNN that Trump calling them “Fake News” was going to lead to “a dead journalist on the side of the highway.” You can’t connect violence to rhetoric—unless the rhetoric is coming from conservatives. If these media people didn’t have double standards, they’d have no standards at all.

Syndicated with permission from The Daily Signal.

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The Daily Signal

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September 19, 2025
Only 2 Michigan Democrats vote against legislation calling Charlie Kirk a hero – Detroit Metro Times

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House Republicans forced Democrats into an awkward vote Friday by pushing through a resolution that hailed conservative provocateur Charlie Kirk as a champion of “unity” and “respectful, civil discourse,” despite his record of racist, misogynistic, and homophobic rhetoric.

The measure passed 310-58 with support from nearly 100 Democrats. It condemns political violence and eulogizes Kirk, who was fatally shot at an outdoor rally in Utah on Sept. 10, as a “courageous American patriot” who “worked tirelessly to promote unity without compromising on conviction.”

Only two of the six Democrats in the Michigan delegation — Reps. Shri Thanedar and Rashida Tlaib, both of Detroit — voted no. The state’s other four Democratic representatives, Debbie Dingell of Ann Arbor, Hillary Scholten of Grand Rapids, Kristen McDonald Rivet of Bay City, and Haley Stevens of Birmingham, supported the resolution.

Stevens is running for U.S. Senate and was recently endorsed by the Michigan Democratic Party Black Caucus.

In a statement, Dingell said she “vehemently” opposes Kirk’s “ideology, beliefs, and views, which were often divisive and cruel — but I voted in support of this resolution because his horrific killing, and this volatile time require all of us to reject violence, hate, and anger without hesitation.”

Thanedar said honoring Kirk crossed a line.

“Empathy is not a celebration, and I will not call Charlie Kirk a hero,” he wrote on X after the vote. “I represent Detroit, the Blackest major city in the country. Given Kirk’s history of disparaging remarks towards Black Americans, I could not vote yes on House Resolution 719.”

In written remarks shared with Metro Times, Thanedar said he mourned with Kirk’s family and opposed political violence, but could not endorse a resolution that whitewashed Kirk’s record of disparaging Black achievement.

“Charlie Kirk was obsessed with affirmative action and DEI,” Thanedar wrote. “He not only questioned the qualifications of Black Americans, but he also implied that there was no chance Black Americans could possibly be qualified for the positions they held. … This pattern — questioning Black intelligence, denying Black merit — runs through his years of commentary.”

Tlaib’s office has yet to release a statement regarding her vote.

Kirk built much of his brand by tearing down affirmative action, diversity programs, and civil rights gains, often with language that critics called outright racist. He railed against affirmative action and diversity initiatives, disparaged Martin Luther King Jr., and even described the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as a “huge mistake.”

On one podcast, Kirk singled out four prominent Black women — Joy Reid, Michelle Obama, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee — and declared, “You do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously. You had to go steal a white person’s slot to go be taken somewhat seriously.”

In another broadcast, Kirk said, “If I see a Black pilot, I’m going to be like, ‘Boy, I hope he’s qualified.’”

Kirk was also a crusader in the culture wars around gender and sexuality. He derided women in leadership as “diversity hires” and frequently attacked LGBTQ+ people, dismissing same-sex marriage as illegitimate and promoting the “groomer” slur against gay teachers. He championed anti-trans legislation across statehouses and condemned immigrants, espousing the Great Replacement conspiracy theory which promotes the idea of ethnic cleansing of white Americans.

On Wednesday, the Congressional Black Caucus condemned Kirk’s assassination while rejecting the resolution as a political ploy.

“It is, unfortunately, an attempt to legitimize Kirk’s worldview — a worldview that includes ideas many Americans find racist, harmful, and fundamentally un-American,” the caucus said.

For Thanedar, who represents a majority-Black district, the issue was personal as well as political.

“A hero is someone who fights for everyone, including those who have been historically left behind,” he wrote. “For white, conservative Christians, Kirk was their biggest champion. For the rest of us, it feels like Kirk was constantly putting us down and demeaning us. He did not earn a hero’s recognition.”

Related

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Steve Neavling

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September 19, 2025
Denton County Rep. Wants to Institutionalize Transgender People

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Before this week, we’d never paid much attention to Congressman Ronny Jackson. The staunch Republican offices in Amarillo, and we don’t pay much attention to Amarillo…

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Emma Ruby

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September 19, 2025
The Heritage Foundation wants transgender people and allies designated as terrorists

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The architects of the Project 2025 agenda now want the federal government to monitor and label transgender people and those close to them as terrorists.

The Heritage Foundation urged the FBI to add a new designation to its list of domestic violent extremist groups for Transgender Ideology-Inspired Violent Extremism, falsely claiming violence from trans people and allies is increasing.

Related: What is the Heritage Foundation, the group behind the terrifying Republican Project 2025 agenda?

“TIVE is based on the belief that violence is justified against those who do not share radical views of transgender ideology. It has led to an increasing trend of TIVE domestic terrorist events across the country,” reads a release from the organization.

Trans people make up less than a percent of mass shooters. They are much more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators. Mass shooters tend to be cisgender men.

The new policy directive follows the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who frequently criticized transgender people and opposed their rights through his work at Turning Point USA. Prosecutors in Utah say shooting suspect Tyler Robinson was in a romantic relationship with a transgender roommate.

Related: No, this transgender woman is not the Charlie Kirk assassin

Transgender advocates immediately criticized the new Heritage Foundation proposal.

“Heritage Foundation has released an absolutely insane policy proposal to label all trans people as domestic terrorists. It uses completely made up instances of terrorism and made up statistics but facts don’t matter to them,” Alejandra Caraballo, a Harvard law instructor and trans legal expert, posted on BlueSky. “They want us all eradicated.”

The Heritage Foundation policy release wrongly asserts that “TIVE has played a role in the majority of mass shootings at schools.” While there have been instances of transgender individuals arrested for such shootings, including one in Minneapolis in August, research by groups like FactCheck.org found the number of transgender shooting suspects was “exceedingly small.”

Importantly, Robinson, the man suspected of killing Kirk, was not transgender, and his roommate has cooperated with police, immediately providing text messages to authorities.

Related: Project 2025 vowed to roll back LGBTQ+ rights. Here’s everything Trump has done so far

The Heritage Foundation published Project 2025, a blueprint for a conservative takeover of government if Donald Trump won a second term as president. The infamous right-wing instruction manual includes numerous anti-LGBTQ initiatives.

While Trump distanced himself from the effort on the campaign trail last year, his presidency has executed many of the proposals, including issuing an executive order saying there are only two sexes and ending the collection and processing of data on gender identity.

This article originally appeared on Advocate: The Heritage Foundation wants transgender people and allies designated as terrorists

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September 19, 2025
Political Witch Hunts and Blacklists: Donald Trump and the New Era of McCarthyism

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A modern-day political inquisition is unfolding in “digital town squares” across the United States. The slain far-right activist Charlie Kirk has become a focal point for a coordinated campaign of silencing critics that chillingly echoes one of the darkest chapters in American history…

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Shannon Brincat

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September 19, 2025
Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert react to Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension – National | Globalnews.ca
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Late-night hosts Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert opened their shows Thursday by addressing the news of Jimmy Kimmel Live! being taken off the air “indefinitely” following remarks host Jimmy Kimmel made on Monday night about the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

On Wednesday, ABC suspended Kimmel’s late-night show after comments he made about Kirk’s killing led a group of ABC-affiliated stations to say they would not air the show.

Earlier on Thursday, The Daily Show announced on social media that Stewart would step in as host. He typically only hosts the Monday edition of the program.

4:34
Jimmy Kimmel suspension: Comedians express concerns over free speech censorship

“From Comedy Central, it’s the all-new, government-approved Daily Show, with your patriotically obedient host, Jon Stewart,” the show kicked off.

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Halfway through the show, Stewart referenced Trump’s state visit to the U.K. this week and mentioned Trump’s comments about Kimmel during a press conference on Thursday with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Chequers, Starmer’s country house in the English town of Aylesbury.

When asked about the dismissal of Kimmel and free speech in America, Trump said, “Well, Jimmy Kimmel was fired because he had bad ratings more than anything else.”

“He said a horrible thing about a great gentleman known as Charlie Kirk. And Jimmy Kimmel is not a talented person. He had very bad ratings and they should have fired him a long time ago,” Trump continued. “So, you know, you can call that free speech or not. He was fired for lack of talent.”

Stewart began: “You may call it free speech in jolly old England, but in America, we have a little thing called the First Amendment, and let me tell you how it works.”

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He then went into an explanation about a “talent-o-meter,” which he joked was a device on Trump’s desk that lets him know when someone’s “talent quotient, measured mostly by niceness to the president,” reaches a low level.

“At which point, the FCC must be notified to threaten the acquisition prospects for billion-dollar mergers of network affiliates,” Stewart said. “These affiliates are then asked to give ultimatums to even larger mega corporation that controls the flow of state-approved content. Or the FCC can just choose to threaten those licences directly. It’s basic science.”

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Stewart went on to joke that he doesn’t know who the “Johnny Drimmel Live ABC character is,” but “the point is, our great administration has laid out very clear rules on free speech.”

“Now, some naysayers may argue that this administration’s speech concerns are merely a cynical ploy, a thin gruel of a ruse, a smokescreen to obscure an unprecedented consolidation of power and unitary intimidation, principle-less and coldly antithetical to any experiment in a constitutional republic governance. Some people would say that,” Stewart said. “Not me, though…. I think it’s great.”

Stewart also interviewed journalist and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Maria Ressa and asked for tips on coping with the current moment.

Ressa recounted how she and her colleagues at the news site Rappler “just kept going” when she was faced with 11 arrest warrants in one year under then-Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte.

“We just kept doing our jobs. We just kept putting one foot in front of the other,” Ressa said.

3:48
‘This is what authoritarianism looks like’: ABC suspends Jimmy Kimmel’s show indefinitely
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Colbert, who recently announced the cancellation of The Late Show, told his audience Thursday that he stands with Kimmel and his staff.

“And if ABC thinks this is going to satisfy the regime, they are woefully naive and clearly, they’ve never read the children’s book If You Give a Mouse a Kimmel. And to Jimmy, just let me say, I stand with you and your staff 100 per cent,” Colbert said.

He also responded to remarks Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr made about the importance for broadcasters to push back on Disney programming “they determine falls short of community values.”

“Well, you know what my community values are, buster? Freedom of speech,” Colbert said.

On Thursday, Jimmy Fallon opened his Tonight Show with a monologue addressing Kimmel’s suspension.

“To be honest with you all, I don’t know what’s going on. And no one does. But I do know Jimmy Kimmel, and he’s a decent, funny and loving guy, and I hope he comes back.”

ABC, which has aired Jimmy Kimmel Live! since 2003, did not immediately explain why it suspended the show on Wednesday. But its announcement came after broadcasters Nexstar and Sinclair said they would stop airing Kimmel’s show on their ABC-affiliated stations.

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Carr had also warned that the network and its local affiliates could face repercussions if Kimmel was not punished.

Carr had called Kimmel’s comments “truly sick” and said the comedian appeared to intentionally try to mislead the public about the alleged shooter’s political leanings. He later applauded the decisions to stop airing Kimmel’s show.

In a statement shared on social media, Sinclair cited “problematic comments regarding the murder of Charlie Kirk” in its decision. Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division, called Kimmel’s comments “offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse.”

Sinclair called on Kimmel to “issue a direct apology to the Kirk family” and asked him to “make a meaningful personal donation to the Kirk Family and Turning Point USA.”

The broadcast group also announced that ABC stations will air a special in remembrance of Kirk on Friday, during the Jimmy Kimmel Live! timeslot.

In a post on his Truth Social platform Wednesday night, Trump applauded ABC for “finally having the courage to do what had to be done” and claimed that Kimmel “has ZERO talent.”

Kimmel, whose contract with the Walt Disney Co.-owned network expires in May 2026, did not immediately comment on the suspension.

— with files from The Associated Press
&copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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Katie Scott

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September 19, 2025
John Cleese & Piers Morgan Trade Blows Over Jimmy Kimmel & Trump: “You Flaming Old Hypocrite”

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John Cleese and Piers Morgan have renewed their social media hostilities over Jimmy Kimmel‘s suspension and Donald Trump‘s state visit to the UK.

Cleese and Morgan are no strangers to slogging it out on X/Twitter, and the events of this week provided another battleground.

Morgan has claimed that Kimmel “lied about Charlie Kirk’s assassin being MAGA” after the comedian said on his ABC show that the “MAGA gang desperately [is] trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and with everything they can to score political points from it.”

Responding to Morgan’s claim, Cleese wrote: “This from Piers Morgan. who has made a fortune working for Rupert Murdoch.” Morgan replied: “You took Rupert’s money too, you flaming old hypocrite.
I’m just proud of it.”

This is familiar territory for the duo. In January, Cleese branded Morgan “lazy” and “sloppy” for defending Murdoch following News Group Newspapers’ settlement with Prince Harry over privacy invasion.

Morgan responded: “I’m bemused. You say you’ve chosen not to work for Rupert Murdoch yet you starred in The Day The Earth Stood Still in 2008 which was produced by 20th Century Fox, owned at the time by.. Rupert Murdoch. Were you being lazy, sloppy, or just a lying hypocrite?”

Elsewhere on Thursday, Cleese mocked Morgan over what he saw as the presenter’s sycophancy during Trump’s state visit to Britain.

Piers has spotted a possible ‘in’ with Trump and he’s after it like a rat up a drainpipe

Well, if you can’t get Murdoch to employ you any more, Trump would be a good replacement https://t.co/jKxtQ3YZqr

— John Cleese (@JohnCleese) September 18, 2025

“Piers has spotted a possible ‘in’ with Trump and he’s after it like a rat up a drainpipe,” he said, commenting on a Fox News clip in which Morgan called Melania Trump “radiant” and compared her to Jackie Kennedy as a “fashion icon.”

Cleese withered: “Well, if you can’t get Murdoch to employ you anymore, Trump would be a good replacement.” This was a nod to the fact that Morgan has moved his show, Piers Morgan Uncensored, to YouTube.

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Jake Kanter

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September 19, 2025
We need calm, compelling voices from the middle

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The late Charlie Kirk, podcaster and founder of Turning Point USA, speaks at the opening of the Turning Point Action conference on July 15, 2023 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

I got a surprise phone call last week from the other side of the world, where an American expatriate was worried about the future of his country in the wake of the Charlie Kirk assassination. We agreed that the dis-United States of America needs calming voices who can command attention — a tall order in a media landscape that is dominated by sources that are provocative, inflammatory and often false. All of us need to help change that.

American public discourse is now driven by opinion, not by facts, largely because of social-media platforms that favor opinion and use secret algorithms that promote the most provocative views to compete in the new “attention economy.” The decline of the traditional news business reflects the reality that the market for fact has shrunk while the market for opinion has grown. Americans prefer to be entertained, and have their views confirmed, than be informed — especially by facts that might conflict with those views.

So, what can we agree on? I would like to think that virtually all Americans agree that political violence is never justified, and that the vast majority of us would probably say likewise about speech that advocates political violence. There are laws against such things.

What, then, about speech that celebrates political violence, even a crime that results in death? That sort of speech, however repugnant, has been protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution. But now people are getting fired for callous things they said about Charlie Kirk’s death, and President Trump and his top lieutenants are using the assassination to more deeply demonize and outright threaten their political opponents.

“Mourn him respectfully or suffer the consequences,” as the Reuters news service described the approach. Ironically, Kirk, who had plenty of controversial views, was lauded most as a champion of free speech; now his friends and allies are using his death to suppress speech — and maybe more.

“There is no civility in the celebration of political assassination,” Vice President JD Vance said Monday, alleging “leftist” funding of “terrorist sympathizers” and urging his audience to call employers of those who’ve made comments they find objectionable.

Trump said without evidence, “We have some pretty radical groups and they got away with murder.” Lexington businessman Nate Morris, who began his Senate campaign with a Kirk-hosted rally and wants Trump’s endorsement, was on the same page, telling Breitbart News that the “radical left has blood on their hands.”

Trump’s deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, said the government will use its power to take liberal groups’ money and power “and, if you’ve broken the law, to take away your freedom.” Miller recently said that the Democratic Party is not a political party but “a domestic extremist organization . . . exclusively dedicated to protecting terrorists, criminals, gang-bangers and murderers.”

Utah Gov. Gov. Spencer Cox, Sept. 10, 2025. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)

That’s ridiculous, but it sets the stage for the government to go after the opposing party, and that’s the sort of thing my expatriate friend and I worry about. Trump clearly revels in the exercise of power, and has indicated no interest in using the power of his office to cool the conversation, as Utah Gov. Spencer Cox tried to do. But some Republicans wish Trump would.

On KET’s “Kentucky Tonight” Monday night, Kentucky Republican strategist Amy Wickliffe said political leaders, from the White House on down, need to call for “taking the rhetoric down.” She acknowledged that’s “really hard” to do with “people in your sphere,” but “Where we go from here, it’s on us. It’s on all of us.”

The maxim, “All that is necessary for evil to prevail is for good men and women to do nothing,” is not as operative as it was in the old media environment, when extreme voices had little access to mass audiences. Now, the extremes are amplified in huge echo chambers, and many Americans in the middle have dropped out of the toxic talk. The fact that flags went to half-staff for the death of a political activist who was unknown to many if not most Americans shows how our political tribes live in different realities.

Perhaps the best place for good women and men to do something about the current crisis is not on social media, but face to face, one on one and in small groups — where there is at least a modicum of trust and respect.

Cox, the Utah governor, said we should “log off, turn off, touch grass, hug a family member, go out and do good in your community.” At a local philanthropic event in my hometown of Albany last weekend, I told a friend that everyone has a civic responsibility to improve the community where they live. Now, technology has made us part of a national community that needs improving, and we all have a role to play.

This column is republished from the Northern Kentucky Tribun e, a nonprofit publication of the Kentucky Center for Public Service Journalism.

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September 19, 2025
As supporters remember Charlie Kirk, political debates go on at CSU: ‘We want to carry on the legacy’

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FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Thursday at Colorado State University was meant to be a stop on conservative commentator Charlie Kirk’s latest college campus tour, where his organization Turning Point USA would spark fiery political debates. Instead, it was a place to remember his life and legacy, starting with a vigil held at Canvas Stadium.

Not far away, political action committee National Ground Game gathered students under a tent for debates. The opposition group to Turning Point USA tries to mobilize young Americans to vote for Democrats.

National Ground Game founder and executive director Zee Cohen-Sanchez told Denver7 the group started following Turning Point USA’s college tour back in April.

“Charlie, actually, he gave us a lot of air time, to be honest,” she said. “Because he very kindly said that we’re actually on to something, and that he hopes, that he wished us luck in the end.

“So we’re hopeful that we can carry on at least his legacy, even though we vehemently disagree with everything that he stood for politically, but we want to carry on the legacy of having these open discussions on college campuses.”

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Pictured: Zee Cohen-Sanchez

After Kirk’s assassination, Cohen-Sanchez said the group initially considered canceling Thursday’s event at CSU, but ultimately wanted to provide a forum to defend free speech and condemn political violence.

“I think that everybody’s scared right now,” she told Denver7. “I think people on the right are scared. I think people on the left are scared. I think students are scared… We believe that if you love this country, then you should be sticking up for freedom of speech right now… We’re really scared that that is not going to be a reality.”

Similar to Turning Point USA’s “Prove Me Wrong” tagline, National Ground Game’s UnF*** America Tour used “Take Us On” on their tent.

“I hope that Turning Point continues the American Comeback Tour,” said Cohen-Sanchez. “I really do. Is it realistic that that’s going to happen? I’m not sure. So we are going to continue regardless, but I hope that they continue, and that we can be there next to them in that debate.”

Denver7

Students gather as political debates take place on the CSU campus Thursday. The tent was set up by National Ground Game, a political left version of Charlie Kirk’s conservative Turning Point USA.

After Kirk’s vigil, NationalL Ground Game hosted a debate event at the Lory Student Center, led by liberal live streamer and political commentator Steven Bonnell, known as Destiny. The conversation at several points became heated, underscoring the divided state of American politics.

CSU students who spoke with Denver7 said being able to hash out those disagreements while still feeling safe is how they believe that divide can be bridged.

“I’ve seen more political opinions in the past week than I have probably, like, my whole life,” said student Riley Combe.

Denver7

Student Yasmeen Stott said “empathy for fellow Americans” can solve the problem.

“We all want what’s best for this country, and you can’t hate the other person for not agreeing with their opinion because how they were raised and all the cumulative factors created their opinion,” CSU student Cameron Montano added.

Denver7 | Your Voice: Get in touch with Ryan Fish

Denver7’s Ryan Fish covers stories that have an impact in all of Colorado’s communities, but specializes in covering artificial intelligence, technology, aviation and space. If you’d like to get in touch with Ryan, fill out the form below to send him an email.

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September 18, 2025
Inside the meetings that led to Jimmy Kimmel’s preemption

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Hollywood is grappling with concerns over free speech and censorship after comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s show was abruptly pulled from the air over his monologue comments about the shooting of Charlie Kirk. Peter White, executive editor of television at Deadline, joins CBS News to unpack the chain of events that led to ABC’s decision.

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September 18, 2025
Hannity is wrong: Trump hoped for Jimmy Kimmel’s firing

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On Sept. 17, ABC announced it was removing Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show from the air indefinitely, after comments the comedian made about conservative commentator Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

Two nights earlier, Kimmel said that the “MAGA gang,” a reference to President Donald Trump’s supporters, tried to cast the person “who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.”

Suspect Tyler Robinson was charged the day after Kimmel’s comments. Robinson was an unaffiliated inactive voter who prosecutors said described Kirk as someone who “spreads too much hate.” Critics derided Kimmel’s ouster as a sign that the broadcast network caved to Trump administration pressures.

Fox News host Sean Hannity said he saw things differently, calling claims of “conservative censorship” false.

“I can’t find a single, prominent conservative voice in the country that even remotely wanted or hoped or was pushing to get Jimmy Kimmel taken off the air,” Hannity said Sept. 17 on his show “Hannity.” “Nobody — it just was simple. People changed the channel. They didn’t watch him. Not one person can I think of. Maybe there’s one, but I can’t think of him.”

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Fox News did not respond to PolitiFact’s request for comment.

Has a conservative called for Kimmel to be taken off the air?

At least one major conservative advocated for the demise of Kimmel’s show in recent months: Trump. And he did so repeatedly.

In July, after CBS announced it would be canceling comedian Stephen Colbert’s late-night show as of May 2026, Trump said on Truth Social that he hoped Kimmel’s show would meet the same fate.

“The word is, and it’s a strong word at that, Jimmy Kimmel is NEXT to go in the untalented Late Night Sweepstakes and, shortly thereafter, Fallon will be gone,” he wrote July 22. “These are people with absolutely NO TALENT, who were paid Millions of Dollars for, in all cases, destroying what used to be GREAT Television. It’s really good to see them go, and I hope I played a major part in it!”

On July 29, Trump argued that CBS canceled Cobert’s show due to his “lack of talent.”

“Everybody is saying that I was solely responsible for the firing of Stephen Colbert from CBS, Late Night. That is not true!” Trump wrote. “And it was only going to get WORSE! Next up will be an even less talented Jimmy Kimmel, and then, a weak, and very insecure, Jimmy Fallon. The only real question is, who will go first?”

On Aug. 6, Trump sounded his prediction again, saying at a White House event that Fallon and Kimmel were “next.” “They’re going to be going,” he said. “I hear they’re going to be going.”

When the news about Kimmel’s show reached Trump after midnight in the U.K., he celebrated.

“Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED,” he wrote. “Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done. Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible.”

Trump also said Sept. 18 that federal regulators should revoke the licenses of broadcasters who “give me only bad publicity.”

Did others push for Kimmel to be fired?

Yes — at least according to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr, who said during a podcast appearance that Kimmel’s suspension might be warranted.

“There’s calls for Kimmel to be fired,” Carr said Sept. 17 on conservative commentator Benny Johnson’s podcast. “You could certainly see a path forward for suspension over this.”

Carr, who Trump appointed as chair, formerly served as the commission’s senior Republican.

RELATED: Key question in the Jimmy Kimmel case: Does the FCC have the power to regulate speech?

Carr made the remarks in a video that Johnson — who has 5.73 million YouTube subscribers and 3.9 million followers on X — titled “Jimmy Kimmel LIES About Charlie Kirk Killer, Blames Charlie For His Murder!? Disney Must Fire Kimmel.” (Disney is ABC’s parent company.)

Carr also said the government could take action against ABC. “They have a license granted by us at the FCC that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest,” Carr told Johnson. “…I mean, look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct to take actions, frankly on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

We contacted the FCC to ask who else called for Kimmel to be fired and received no response.

What’s behind ABC’s decision to take Kimmel’s show off the air?

ABC said Sept. 17 that Kimmel’s show was “preempted indefinitely” following backlash to his remarks.

“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”

Kimmel then showed a clip of Trump answering a reporter’s question about how he was holding up after Kirk’s murder. “I think very good,” Trump answered, before directing journalists’ attention to the White House renovation underway nearby.

Before ABC’s announcement, two companies that own a range of ABC affiliates — Nexstar and Sinclair — said they would be preempting Kimmel’s show. (Preempting a show means not running it in an affiliate’s market.)

Nexstar announced in August that it intended, subject to regulatory approvals, to acquire all outstanding shares of Tegna for $6.2 billion. The transaction is expected to close by the second half of 2026 and will be reviewed by the FCC. Separately, Nexstar and Sinclair are also asking the FCC to repeal a rule that limits any broadcasting company from reaching more than 39% of U.S. households.

Our ruling

Hannity said he found no “prominent conservative voice in the country that even remotely wanted or hoped or was pushing to get Jimmy Kimmel taken off the air.”

Trump, the biggest conservative voice in the country, said in July that Kimmel was “next up” on the list of late night show hosts who would be fired. Trump also said of Kimmel’s and Fallon’s then-hypothetical ouster from late night shows: “It’s really good to see them go, and I hope I played a major part in it!”

Other prominent conservative voices also weighed in. Johnson advocated for Kimmel to be fired. And Carr said Kimmel’s comments about Kirk’s assassination drew calls for — and created a possible path for — his suspension or firing.

We rate this claim False.

PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird, Staff Writer Samantha Putterman and Chief Correspondent Louis Jacobson contributed to this report.

RELATED: President Trump said he ‘brought back free speech.’ His first 100 days tell a different story.

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September 18, 2025
ABC yanks Jimmy Kimmel’s show ‘indefinitely’ after threat from Trump’s FCC chair

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(CNN) — Disney’s ABC is taking Jimmy Kimmel’s late night talk show off the air indefinitely amid a controversy over his recent comments about Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer.

“Jimmy Kimmel Live will be pre-empted indefinitely,” an ABC spokesperson said, declining to share any further details.

A representative for Kimmel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The stunning decision came just a few hours after the Trump administration official responsible for licensing ABC’s local stations publicly pressured the company to punish Kimmel.

At least two major owners of ABC-affiliated stations subsequently said they would preempt Kimmel’s show, sparking speculation that the owners were trying to curry favor with the administration. The local media conglomerates are each seeking mergers that would require administration approval.

As Kimmel prepared to tape Wednesday night’s episode in Hollywood, ABC decided to pull the plug, much to the astonishment of the entertainment industry.

Free speech and free expression groups immediately condemned ABC, calling the suspension cowardly, while President Trump, who frequently sparred with Kimmel, celebrated all the way from the UK, where he is on a state visit.

“Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform. “That leaves Jimmy (Fallon) and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!!”

The indefinite hiatus underscores how politicized opinions and comments around the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk have become, with high-profile campaigns urging employers to fire people who make comments perceived as unflattering about Kirk.

And the president has also gone after media companies, specifically, when they displease him, as with a $15 billion defamation lawsuit he filed against the New York Times this week and lawsuits against other outlets.

During his Monday evening monologue, Kimmel said the MAGA movement was trying to score political points by trying to prove that Kirk’s alleged killer, Tyler Robinson, was not one of its own.

“The MAGA Gang (is) desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”

The ABC late-night host’s remarks constituted “the sickest conduct possible,” FCC chair Brendan Carr told right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson on Wednesday. Carr suggested his FCC could move to revoke ABC affiliate licenses as a way to force Disney to punish Kimmel.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said. “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take actions on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

And speaking on Fox Wednesday night, Carr suggested broadcasters would see more of this kind of pressure in the future.

“We at the FCC are going to force the public interest obligation. There are broadcasters out there that don’t like it, they can turn in their license in to the FCC,” Carr said. “But that’s our job. Again, we’re making some progress now.”

But Anna Gomez, the lone Democratic commissioner at the FCC, wrote on X that while “an inexcusable act of political violence by one disturbed individual must never be exploited as justification for broader censorship and control,” the Trump administration “is increasingly using the weight of government power to suppress lawful expression.”

Speaking with CNN’s Erin Burnett after Kimmel’s show was taken off the air, Gomez said “the First Amendment does not allow us, the FCC, to tell broadcasters what they can broadcast.”

“I saw the clip. He did not make any unfounded claims, but he did make a joke, one that others may even find crude, but that is neither illegal nor grounds for companies to capitulate to this administration in ways that violate the First Amendment,” Gomez told CNN. “This sets a dangerous new precedent, and companies must stand firm against any efforts to trade away First Amendment freedom.”

Pro-Trump websites and TV shows began to criticize Kimmel for his remarks on Tuesday, and as the story gained traction on Wednesday, some owners of ABC-affiliated stations felt compelled to speak out.

Local broadcasters get involved

Nexstar, which operates about two dozen ABC affiliates, issued a press release saying it “strongly objects” to Kimmel’s remarks and saying its stations would “replace the show with other programming in its ABC-affiliated markets.”

Notably, Nexstar is seeking Trump administration approval to acquire another big US station group, Tegna. The deal requires the FCC to loosen the government’s limits on broadcast station ownership.

Minutes after Nexstar criticized Kimmel publicly, ABC said the show was being yanked nationwide.

Later in the evening, another big station group, Sinclair, said it had also told ABC that it was preempting Kimmel’s show on its ABC-affiliated stations before the network announced its nationwide decision.

Sinclair, too, has business pending before the Trump administration, and it made a bid for Tegna a day before Nexstar stepped in with its bid. The company announced Wednesday night that it will air a one-hour special tribute to Kirk on Friday night in Kimmel’s usual time slot.

Following ABC’s action to indefinitely pull Kimmel’s show off the air, Sinclair issued a statement saying the late-night host’s suspension “is not enough” and called on the network, the FCC and Kimmel to go further.

“Sinclair will not lift the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on our stations until formal discussions are held with ABC regarding the network’s commitment to professionalism and accountability,” the company said in its statement. “Regardless of ABC’s plans for the future of the program, Sinclair intends not to return Jimmy Kimmel Live! to our air until we are confident that appropriate steps have been taken to uphold the standards expected of a national broadcast platform.”

Sinclair said it demanded Kimmel directly apologize to the Kirk family and make a “meaningful” donation to Kirk’s family and his organization, Turning Point USA.

The FCC’s role

The FCC regulates the public airwaves, including broadcast signals and content. Before Trump appointed Carr to lead the agency, the FCC, for the most part, had taken a hands-off approach to broadcasters’ political content in recent years.

But Carr has taken a broader view of the FCC’s remit to serve the public interest, and has served as a political attack dog for Trump, threatening his perceived enemies in the broadcast media.

“I can’t imagine another time when we’ve had local broadcasters tell a national programmer like Disney that your content no longer meets the needs and the values of our community,” Carr told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Wednesday. “So this is an important turning point.”

The Center for American Rights, which has previously lodged bias complaints against NBC, ABC and CBS, on Wednesday filed a complaint with the FCC over Kimmel’s comments, writing that “it is no defense to say that Kimmel was engaging in satire or late-night comedy rather than traditional news.”

“ABC’s affiliates need to step up and hold ABC accountable as a network for passing through material that fails to respect the public-interest standard to which they are held,” Daniel Suhr, president of the Center for American Rights, wrote in the complaint. “Disney as ABC’s corporate owner needs to act directly to correct this problem.”

SAG-AFTRA, the actors union, said Wednesday night that it “condemns” the suspension of Kimmel’s show.

“Our society depends on freedom of expression. Suppression of free speech and retaliation for speaking out on significant issues of public concern run counter to the fundamental rights we all rely on,” the union said in its statement.

“The decision to suspend airing Jimmy Kimmel Live! is the type of suppression and retaliation that endangers everyone’s freedoms.”

Kimmel has also been a frequent target of President Trump’s ire. Shortly after CBS announced the cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s late-night talk show — a move Carr publicly celebrated — Trump suggested that “Next up will be an even less talented Jimmy Kimmel.”

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Elizabeth Wagmeister, Liam Reilly and CNN

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September 18, 2025
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt now has Secret Service detail, multiple sources say

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White House requests $58M for more security

White House requests $58 million for security funding after Charlie Kirk shooting, sources say

04:12

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was given a U.S. Secret Service protective detail in recent days, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

The move comes in the wake of the shooting of prominent conservative activist Charlie Kirk, which sparked a conversation about the safety of high-profile individuals in public settings.

Leavitt declined to comment. The Secret Service has not yet responded to CBS News’ request for comment.

Congress is currently considering providing $58 million in additional funding to increase security for officials in the executive and judicial branches.

While it’s uncommon for White House press secretaries to have a protective detail, it’s not unprecedented.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, now the governor of Arkansas, was temporarily assigned a Secret Service detail at her home in 2018 while serving as President Trump’s spokesperson during his first term. The assignment was made after Sanders was refused service at a restaurant in Lexington, Virginia. She tweeted about the incident, which caused an uproar on social media.

Jennifer Jacobs

Jennifer Jacobs is a senior White House reporter at CBS News.

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September 18, 2025
Thanks to AI, Charlie Kirk Will Never Die for Some People

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There really is no rest for the wicked. Over the weekend, according to Religious News Service, at least three churches played for their congregations a posthumous message from Charlie Kirk, in which he assured those in the pews, “I’m fine, not because my body is fine, but because my soul is secure in Christ. Death is not the end, it’s a promotion.”

Of course, it wasn’t actually Kirk speaking from his spot in the afterlife. It was an AI-generated clip that, prior to getting played in these houses of worship, made the rounds on social media. The audio appears to have originated on TikTok, generated by the user NioScript, who posted the 51-second message a day after Kirk was killed. It has since garnered millions of listens, shared by users who record themselves reacting and crying as they hear the AI-generated message. All of that eventually led to the audio getting played in churches like Prestonwood Baptist in Texas, where it is introduced by Pastor Jack Graham as AI—but as something that “moved” him and that he is sharing so his congregation can “Hear what Charlie is saying regarding what happened to him this past week.”

It is, again, not what Charlie Kirk is saying. But that has not stopped people from talking to it as if it were real. Members of Prestonwood Baptist gave the video a standing ovation. Audiences of Dream City Church in Arizona and Awaken Church, San Marcos, in California, both of which ran the clips, also applauded, as pointed out by Religious News Service. Users on social media have responded to the audio with captions and comments like “This is exactly what Charlie would say if he could talk to us right now,” or “I know it’s AI but you can’t tell me this isn’t exactly what he’d say.”

This type of coping with the feeling of loss is not totally unique. People have always sought to remember and preserve the people they love after they pass, and technology has facilitated new ways to achieve that, whether it is an endless stream of photos that spark memories or the person’s online presence turned into a digital memorial. In the world of bereavement literature, these are often referred to as continuing bonds. In that way, an AI-generated audio clip or video of someone like Kirk isn’t all that different from sharing stories about him to keep his memory alive.

It is different in that it’s a complete fabrication. It’s not a memory, which can also be faulty, but an invention from whole cloth. Yes, it may have access to Kirk’s words, likeness, and voice, all of which are omnipresent on the internet. But it is, as a large language model, incapable of doing anything but trying to autofill the void for the grieving.

Creating an AI-replicated version of a deceased person to aid in the grieving process is a growing industry. A recent article in Nature highlights several efforts to better understand if chatbots trained on a loved one’s likeness can help the grieving work through the complex and intense feelings that come with loss. While there is some evidence to suggest users of “griefbots” have managed to find some internal sense of closure with their lost loved ones, there are real risks of harming people in a fragile emotional state, including making it hard to let go of the bot version of the person.

There is also the very real worry that we simply aren’t able to differentiate between our real memories of a person and AI-generated ones that are implanted in our minds through these types of interactions. A study conducted by MIT Media Lab found that exposing a person to even a single AI-edited image can affect a person’s memory, and people exposed to AI-generated images “reported high levels of confidence in their false memories.”

The reality for the people who are memorializing Kirk this way is that the vast majority of them don’t actually know him. They have a parasocial relationship with him that they would like to continue, and the AI message allows that to happen because it, in their minds, captures his voice—or, maybe more accurately, captures what they want to hear.

There is already plenty of ongoing debate about who exactly Charlie Kirk was and how he should be remembered without an AI-generated version of him injected into the conversation. But for people who are grieving his loss, should they believe that there is any part of Kirk’s soul living in that AI voice, perhaps just let it rest.

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September 18, 2025
No One Knows What ‘Terminally Online’ Means Anymore

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“No one person owns a meme, they’re a universal template,” says Matthew Kriner, executive director of the Institute for Countering Digital Extremism. “We do not see a meme itself as an indication of what the ideology behind it is.” This hasn’t stopped people from attempting to use the memes as proof that Robinson was part of a certain political groups. Some completely misunderstood the memes, such as the BBC’s Mike Wendling, who suggested in a post that a gaming reference, which was later attributed to Helldivers 2, might be linked to antifa. Others, like the Telegraph analyzed purported connections between Robinson and the Groypers.

Sadly, Groypers aren’t the only online group that uses the language and practices of memes to advocate and commit acts of political violence. As far-right movements have gained significant political power worldwide, the irony seems to have been replaced by nihilism. The past few years have seen new internet movements like the Com network and 764. These groups, made up largely of isolated underage people, are centered around criminal acts such as committing abusive, violent, and exploitative practices like sextortion in the name of creating the most chaos and fear possible, with no other ideological or political agenda. The FBI has categorized these groups as NVE (nihilistic violent extremism), and they operate in much the same ways, and along the same vectors, as more benign online communities.

“In the 2010s, radicalization was about being the underdog, using grievance culture to shift narratives,” says Jamie Cohen, professor of media studies at Queens College. “Today, the institutions are fully captured by far-right narratives. The culture is shifted, so radicalization is stochastic incidents designed to sow chaos.”

There’s no indication Robinson was a member of any of these NVE groups, though they offer context into how these crimes can often lack any political intent or meaning. “We often research individual perpetrators to understand how memetic elements fit into the larger data and history of their lives,” says Kriner. “[With Robinson] we have little to no public information, so making inferences is challenging, if not impossible, based on what we have in the public eye right now.”

New details have emerged that give some further grounding without anything definitive. Some reports claimed that Robinson was not registered with either political party, but that both his parents were registered Republicans; according to court docs, his mother said he became more invested in “pro-gay and trans rights” in recent months.

In the aforementioned text exchange, Robinson allegedly said “I had enough of his hatred” in reference to Kirk. Independent reporter Ken Klippenstein, meanwhile, investigated a Discord server frequented by Robinson and reported that Robinson virtually never mentioned politics, focusing instead on games like Helldivers 2, which is directly referred to by one of the engraved memes.

Robinson’s Discord server seems to have been a conventionally silly and friendly internet community. The exact kind of space that still exists and flourishes on the internet alongside the more violent and chaotic groups. Similarly, the memes cited by law enforcement that were inscribed on the bullets started out as harmless in-jokes before they were given a new, deadly context last week.

“We often use memes as indicators, as guideposts of where to look deeper,” said Kriner. “They can be a helpful tool, but they can also be a distraction.” And without a clear understanding of the context and culture surrounding these memes, they seem to have been a distraction for most people looking for meaning.

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September 18, 2025
ABC insider hopes liberals take this lesson away from Jimmy Kimmel saga

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NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

One ABC insider had a message particularly for liberals in the fallout of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” being pulled from the airwaves.

“I hope it teaches the left (and the right that still cares about speech) that the executive branch agencies have waaaaay too much power,” the network staffer told Fox News Digital.

“If you don’t want your political enemy to get to define hate speech, then you don’t want to criminalize hate speech,” they continued. “Same goes for the FCC.”

Neither Disney nor ABC responded to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.

LIBERALS RAGE AS ABC PULLS JIMMY KIMMEL OFF THE AIR FOLLOWING CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSIN COMMENTS

An ABC insider told Fox News Digital they took a lesson from the network’s decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel off-air. (Michael Le Brecht/Disney via Getty Images)

Disney was facing mounting pressure from ABC affiliate stations around the country as well as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over its handling of its liberal late-night host Jimmy Kimmel over his comments about the alleged Charlie Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson. A spokesperson for Disney told Fox News Digital “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” would be preempted “indefinitely.”

On Monday, Kimmel suggested Robinson was part of the “MAGA gang” despite reports he had a left-wing ideology, which was later reaffirmed in Tuesday’s indictment.

“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel told his audience.

Tyler Robinson, 22, faces murder charges after the assassination of Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk. (Gov. Spencer Cox’s office; AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group had expressed to ABC that it would preempt “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on the affiliate stations they operate unless the Disney-owned network addressed the controversy.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr also threatened ABC and Disney to remedy the situation, saying “we can do this the easy way or the hard way.”

“I’ve been very clear from the moment that I have become chairman of the FCC, I want to reinvigorate the public interest. And what people don’t understand is that the broadcasters, and you’ve gotten this right, are entirely different than people that use other forms of communication. They have a license granted by us at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest,” Carr told YouTube host Benny Johnson. “These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or, you know, there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

One broadcast journalist was perplexed by Carr’s demands.

“What does Carr mean when he says it’s our obligation to ensure the FCC has license holders uphold the public interest, who’s going to define that?” they told Fox News Digital. “I imagine what the commander in chief’s definition of the public interest is but it’s crazy.”

FCC CHAIR LEVELS THREAT AGAINST ABC, DISNEY AFTER KIMMEL SUGGESTED CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSIN WAS ‘MAGA’

Carr defended the indefinite suspension of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” while appearing on “Hannity” Wednesday. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Joseph A. Wulfsohn is a media reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to joseph.wulfsohn@fox.com and on Twitter: @JosephWulfsohn.

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September 18, 2025
Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk’s widow, named new CEO of Turning Point USA

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Erika Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk, has been named CEO of Turning Point USA following her husband’s assassination while speaking to students at Utah Valley University on September 10.

The board of Turning Point USA, the nonprofit Charlie Kirk founded in 2012, made the announcement Thursday morning. The statement said that Erika Kirk’s election was unanimous. Erika Kirk will also serve as the chair of the board.

“In prior discussions, Charlie expressed to multiple executives that this is what he wanted in the event of his death,” the board said.

Turning Point USA is a conservative political organization with a presence on 3,500 campuses in the United States, according to its website. Charlie Kirk was a key ally of President Donald Trump who has been credited with energizing and mobilizing the youth vote in the 2024 presidential election.

Erika Kirk vowed to carry on her late husband’s work last week, when she made her first comments since his death.

“If you thought that my husband’s mission was powerful before, you have no idea,” she said on September 12. “You have no idea what you’ve just unleashed across this entire country, and this world. You have no idea the fire you’ve ignited within this wife. The cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry.”

Erika Kirk said in those remarks that her husband’s “movement is not going anywhere” and said that the radio shows and podcasts “that he was so proud of will go on.” Erika Kirk also said that the scheduled Turning Point USA tour that Charlie Kirk was participating in when he was shot will continue.

Charlie Kirk’s funeral is set for Sunday morning. His casket was flown to Arizona, where his family lives, on Air Force Two, with Vice President JD Vance accompanying it. Mr. Trump previously said he will attend the service. Mr. Trump also recently said he would posthumously award Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Vice President JD Vance (R) second lady Usha Vance (C) and Erika Kirk deplane Air Force Two while escorting the body of Charlie Kirk on September 11, 2025 in Phoenix, Arizona.

Eric Thayer / Getty Images

Kirk’s alleged killer, Tyler Robinson, was arrested late last week and is being held without bail. Robinson has been charged with aggravated murder and other related crimes. Authorities say Robinson confessed to the killing in a series of text messages. Utah officials have said they intend to seek the death penalty.

The Kirks were wed in 2021 and shared two young children. Erika Kirk called Charlie Kirk a “perfect” father and husband in her recent remarks.

Erika Kirk holds a Juris Master’s degree in American Legal Studies from Liberty University and is currently studying for a doctorate in Biblical studies at the same university, according to her website. She is also the founder of Proclaim, a faith-based clothing line, and hosts her own podcast, “Midweek Rise Up.”

Kerry Breen

Kerry Breen is a news editor at CBSNews.com. A graduate of New York University’s Arthur L. Carter School of Journalism, she previously worked at NBC News’ TODAY Digital. She covers current events, breaking news and issues including substance use.

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September 18, 2025