Two days ago, feminist news and opinion site Jezebel ran a story with the headline, “We Paid Some Etsy Witches to Curse Charlie Kirk.” After Kirk, a prominent MAGA influencer, was shot and killed Wednesday while speaking at an event at a Utah university, Jezebel has added a note at the top of the article condemning the shooting.
The “Editor’s Note” at the top of the article reads: “This story was published on September 8. Jezebel condemns the shooting of Charlie Kirk in the strongest possible terms. We do not endorse, encourage, or excuse political violence of any kind.” The article also was updated to change the byline to “By Jezebel” since its original publication.
In a statement to Variety, Josh Jackson, president of Paste Media Group, the owner of Jezebel, said: “The article was a tongue-in-cheek exploration of people selling hexes on Etsy, and intended as a satirical response to Charlie Kirk’s rhetoric over the years. The writer was very clear that she didn’t want real harm to come to Kirk. What happened today is tragic and becoming all too commonplace, and we condemn this awful act of violence.”
The full text of the original article remains online as of Wednesday evening. The subhed of the article reads, “If the far-right misogynist with a bad haircut wants to villainize independent women, Jezebel is more than happy to be the hag of his nightmares.”
In the article, the Jezebel writer explains how she contacted self-advertised “witches” on Etsy in order to purchase hexes on Kirk. “I want to make it clear, I’m not calling on dark forces to cause him harm. I just want him to wake up every morning with an inexplicable zit. I want his podcast microphone to malfunction every time he hits record… To ruin his day with the collective feminist power of the Etsy coven would be my life’s greatest joy,” the article reads.
The Jezebel author writes that she paid three witches she contacted on Etsy to cast spells on Kirk, including “make everyone hate him” and a “powerful hex spell.” One of the witches sent the author with “her proof of cast: a photograph in flames, the edges slowly curving inward, engulfing Charlie’s ridiculous scrunched-up little face. She whispered (I imagine), ‘Trust the unseen.’”
The piece concludes, “So, did my Etsy curses work? Time will tell… For now, we can only trust in the timing of the great unknown.” The author thanks the witches and writes, “And to you, Mr. Kirk: May the rash come swiftly.”
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Jezebel is currently owned by Paste Media Group, publisher of culture and entertainment publication Paste Magazine, which acquired the site from G/O Media in November 2023 after G/O had announced it was shutting down Jezebel and laying off the staff. According to Jezebel’s about page, the site relaunched less than a month after Paste Media’s acquisition “under our seventh Editor-in-Chief, Lauren Tousignant, who doesn’t seem to have fucked it up yet.”
In addition to Jezebel and Paste Magazine, Atlanta-based Paste Media also owns the A.V. Club entertainment site (formerly part of The Onion), Splinter and Endless Mode.
From Variety US