Michael Keaton publicly commented on the death of Charlie Kirk following his assassination last week.
The Birdman star, 74, paid his respects to the late conservative political activist during the Investigative Reporters and Editors’ 50th anniversary gala in New York City on Monday, September 15.
Per a report by Variety, published that day, Keaton gave a speech that opened with his thoughts on the assassination, which occurred on Wednesday, September 10 at the campus of Utah Valley University. Kirk was 31 years old when he was shot and killed while speaking at an on-campus event.
Keaton told the audience, “Before we start to get into the meat of this thing, I’m going to take a minute to say that, regardless of how I probably — not probably — have disagreed with many things he said, Charlie Kirk leaves behind two kids and a wife. You gotta remember that.” (Kirk is survived by his wife, Erika Kirk (née Frantzve), and the couple’s children.)
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The actor continued, “Because in the end, shooting people will never answer anything, and the irony that he was killed with a gun is unbelievable.”
Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, was a right-wing conservative non-profit best known for helping President Donald Trump reach victory in the 2024 presidential election. The alleged shooter was identified by police on Friday, September 12, as Tyler Robinson, and he is being held in police custody without bail at Utah County Jail.
Per a report by the BBC on Tuesday, September 16, Robinson, 22, appeared remotely during a court appearance that day as prosecutors “unveiled seven charges over the killing of Charlie Kirk and said they would seek the death penalty.”
Keaton’s public comments arrived amid other celebrities voicing their own thoughts on the assassination. On Tuesday, Amanda Seyfried wrote in the comments section of an Instagram video that rounded up Kirk’s statements regarding abortion, gay people, trans rights, immigration and other issues.
Charlie Kirk Nordin Catic/Getty Images for The Cambridge Union
“He was hateful,” Seyfried, 39, commented on the post. One day prior, the actress used her Instagram Stories to seemingly address Kirk’s death. “You can’t invite violence to the dinner table and be shocked when it starts eating,” she shared.
Other Hollywood stars reacted to Kirk’s death in the hours after news of the assassination broke, with Chris Pratt writing via X, “Praying for Charlie Kirk right now, for his wife and young children, for our country,” and Jimmy Kimmel writing via Instagram, “Instead of the angry finger-pointing, can we just for one day agree that it is horrible and monstrous to shoot another human?”
