Amanda Seyfried told Who What Wear on her press tour for “The Testament of Ann Lee” that she refuses to apologize for calling Charlie Kirk “hateful” after the Turning Point USA co-founder was shot and killed earlier this year.
“I’m not fucking apologizing for that,” Seyfried said. “I mean, for fuck’s sake, I commented on one thing. I said something that was based on actual reality and actual footage and actual quotes. What I said was pretty damn factual, and I’m free to have an opinion, of course. Thank God for Instagram. I was able to give some clarity, and it was about getting my voice back because I felt like it had been stolen and recontextualized—which is what people do, of course.”
Kirk, a 31-year-old conservative activist, was fatally shot in the neck on Sept. 10 during a college speaking event in Utah. Seyfried originally commented on Kirk’s death by writing: “He was hateful.” The statement ignited accusations from some conservatives online that Seyfried was implying Kirk’s death was justified. Quite the contrary. She responded to the backlash in a standalone Instagram post.
“I don’t want to add fuel to a fire. I just want to be able to give clarity to something so irresponsibly (but understandably) taken out of context. Spirited discourse – isn’t that what we should be having?” Seyfried wrote in the post’s caption.
“We’re forgetting the nuance of humanity,” she went on to explain. “I can get angry about misogyny and racist rhetoric and ALSO very much agree that Charlie Kirk’s murder was absolutely disturbing and deplorable in every way imaginable. No one should have to experience this level of violence. This country is grieving too many senseless and violent deaths and shootings. Can we agree on that at least?”
Seyfried was one of many Hollywood figures in September who both condemned Kirk’s shooting death while also publicly disagreeing with his politics. Jamie Lee Curtis fought back tears on Marc Maron’s “WTF” podcast when discussing Kirk.
“I disagreed with him on almost every point I ever heard him say, but I believe he was a man of faith, and I hope in that moment when he died, that he felt connected with his faith,” Curtis said
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Head over to Who What Wear’s website to read Seyfried’s interview in its entirety.
From Variety US