Jamie Lee Curtis was overcome with emotion as she discussed the tragic killing of Charlie Kirk. The 66-year-old star of "Freaky Friday" wept openly on the "WTF with Marc Maron" podcast while delving into the recent assassination of the Turning Point USA co-founder. "I disagreed with him on nearly every point I ever heard him articulate," Curtis revealed in the episode released on Monday, September 15th. "Yet, I believe he was a man of faith, and I sincerely hope that in his final moments, he felt a connection to his faith, even though his beliefs were repugnant to me."
She continued, her voice tinged with empathy, "He was still a father, a husband, and a man of faith. I hope that whatever his connection to God meant to him, he felt it in that desperate instant."
Kirk was fatally shot on September 10th while addressing a crowd at Utah Valley University. A suspect, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, has been apprehended and charged with Kirk's murder. He is slated to make his initial court appearance on September 16th.
Curtis' podcast episode was recorded just two days after Kirk's untimely death and one day following the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. She invoked Kirk's name while voicing her concerns about the psychological toll that disturbing footage from events like Kirk's shooting or the 9/11 attacks might exact on viewers. "We lack sufficient psychological understanding of the impact such images have," she remarked. "What do they do to us? I never want to witness the footage of him being shot. Could it be that our collective sense of humanity is eroding because we're inundated with these graphic images?"
Politicians from both the Republican and Democratic parties have uniformly condemned the political violence that followed Kirk's death, as have numerous Hollywood luminaries. Comedian Rosie O'Donnell took to Instagram, declaring Kirk's killing "wrong on every conceivable level," while "The Late Show" host Stephen Colbert extended his condolences to Kirk's "family and all his loved ones."
"I'm old enough to vividly recall the political violence of the 1960s," Colbert reflected on his show on September 10th. "I hope it's abundantly clear to everyone in America that political violence never resolves our political disputes; it only begets more violence."
In a September 10th Instagram post, late-night host Jimmy Kimmel wrote, "Can we, just for one day, set aside the angry accusations and agree that shooting another human being is horrific and monstrous?" He added, "On behalf of my family, we send our love to the Kirks and to all the children, parents, and innocents who become victims of senseless gun violence."
Coldplay frontman Chris Martin also referenced Kirk's death during a concert in London, urging fans to spread love and compassion to people around the globe.
