Jamie Lee Curtis Talks Fallout Over Charlie Kirk Discussion

Jamie Lee Curtis has spent nearly five decades in the spotlight, but her latest headlines haven't been for her acting—they've been for her surprising reaction to the assassination of Charlie Kirk. In a new interview with Variety, Curtis reflects on the backlash she received after expressing empathy for Kirk, a controversial conservative figure, during a Sept. 15 appearance on Marc Maron's podcast. The outrage, she said, was fueled by a misinterpretation of her comments, which some took as an endorsement of Kirk's views. Curtis, a longtime advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, clarified that she was simply acknowledging Kirk's faith at the time of his death, not excusing his rhetoric.

The Freakier Friday actor had become tearful while speaking of Kirk with Maron. "Even though ... 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," she said, per Fox News. She described the backlash as "fierce" and "threatening" and lamented the current climate in which people are often vilified for not providing simple answers. "In the binary world today, you cannot hold two ideas at the same time: I cannot be Jewish and totally believe in Israel's right to exist and at the same time reject the destruction of Gaza," she told Variety. But in reality, "I cannot be who I am not."