Joe Rogan was midway through a marathon recording of his podcast with Hollywood star Charlie Sheen, who was promoting his memoir, when producers broke the news that conservative activist Charlie Kirk had been shot in Utah on Thursday.
“Should we bring this up? I guess we have to,” Rogan said, clutching his head.
“So, this has just happened. We just found out that Charlie Kirk got shot.”
Sheen responded by citing the news as “f**king awful.”
Moments later, Rogan turned to his producer Jamie Vernon asking whether the 31-year-old was alive, but Vernon confirmed moments later, through social media, that Kirk was in fact dead.
“Murdered for having a different opinion from somebody else,” Sheen said, with the shock played out in real time. “Different ideology from somebody else . . . beliefs that didn’t align. Rest in peace. F**k.”
With Rogan holding his head and struggling for words, the host added: “He didn’t deserve that. Nobody deserves that. There’s going to be a lot of people celebrating this. It’s so scary.
“It’s so dangerous too, to celebrate or to in any way encourage this kind of behaviour from human beings. He’s not a violent guy; he’s talking to people on college campuses. He wasn’t even particularly rude. He tried to be pretty reasonable with people.”
Both men condemned the political climate that could make such an act possible as they spoke about the dangers of a culture that rewards division rather than debate.
“He’s a very intelligent guy whether you agree with him or don’t,” Rogan said. “And there’s a lot of stuff I didn’t agree with him on, that’s fine. You’re allowed to disagree with people without celebrating the fact that he got shot.”
“What you’re supposed to do with a guy like that if you’re opposing him is debate him, have a conversation where your argument is more compelling than his,” Rogan continued. “That’s what people should be celebrating, discourse, we used to do that.”
Sheen, reflecting on his own experience as a celebrity, added that the possibility of violence was always “in the back of our minds” during public appearances.
Authorities later confirmed that Kirk had been struck in the neck by a single round fired from a high-powered rifle about 150 metres away. He was rushed to hospital but could not be saved.
The FBI has since released images of the suspect, described as a college-age man wearing dark glasses, a baseball cap and a black shirt.
Investigators say the weapon, a bolt-action rifle, was recovered in nearby woodland along with ammunition marked with political slogans.
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday the investigation was progressing quickly, describing the shooter as “an animal, a total animal.”
The President confirmed he had spoken to Kirk’s widow, Erika, saying she was “devastated, absolutely devastated”.