Jamie Lee Curtis has never shied away from speaking her truth, whether it’s about her career, politics, or personal values. But in a deeply emotional and surprising moment on Monday’s episode of the WTF With Marc Maron podcast, the Oscar-winning actress broke down in tears over the death of conservative political commentator Charlie Kirk.
Despite being on opposite ends of the political spectrum, Curtis, 66, shared that she felt a profound sense of sorrow upon learning of Kirk’s assassination on Sept. 10, a moment that has shaken both sides of the cultural divide.
“I’m going to bring something up with you just because it’s front of mind,” Curtis told host Marc Maron. “Charlie Crist was killed two days ago.”
Maron gently corrected her, noting she meant Charlie Kirk, not Charlie Crist, the former Florida governor. Curtis responded, “Sorry, Kirk. I just call him Crist, I think, because of Christ, because of his deep belief.”
The slip, while minor, revealed the heart of Curtis’ emotional reaction: a recognition of Kirk’s strong faith, which, she said, moved her despite their glaring ideological differences.
“I mean, I disagreed with him on almost every point I ever heard him say,” Curtis admitted, her voice breaking. “But I believe he was a man of faith, and I hope in that moment when he died, that he felt connected to his faith.”
Curtis began to sob during the podcast, pausing to gather herself before continuing. “Even though I find what his ideas were abhorrent to me, I still believe he’s a father and a husband and a man of faith, and I hope — whatever ‘connection to God’ means — that he felt it.”
Kirk, the controversial founder of Turning Point USA, was fatally shot during a public speaking event. A disturbing video of the shooting quickly went viral across social media platforms, prompting widespread debate about media responsibility, digital trauma, and the societal effects of repeated exposure to violence.
Curtis didn’t hold back in expressing her frustration over how such footage was handled online.
“We, as a society, are bombarded with imagery,” she said. “We don’t know what the longitudinal effects are of seeing those [Twin] Towers come down over and over and over again,” she continued, referencing the recent 24th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. “Or watching [Kirk’s] execution over and over and over again.”
The “Knives Out” and “Freaky Friday” star compared Kirk’s assassination video to some of the most traumatic images in modern American history, suggesting that our collective desensitization may be more harmful than we realize.
“We are numb to them, but they are in there,” she said. “We don’t know, we don’t know enough psychologically about what that does. What does that do?”
Curtis added that she deliberately avoided watching the footage of Kirk’s death, saying, “I don’t ever want to watch it. I won’t.”
The actress also reflected on how public acts of violence have affected her personally. She revealed that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated exactly five years from the day she was born — a fact that has haunted her since childhood.
“I’m associated with this awful day of someone being assassinated on television,” she said. “I think we’ve become inured to it.”
The viral reaction to her comments has been mixed, with some praising her compassion and others criticizing her for speaking sympathetically about a polarizing figure. But for Curtis, the issue seems less about politics and more about humanity.
