{"id":31860,"date":"2025-09-19T17:42:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T17:42:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/31860\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T17:42:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T17:42:15","slug":"amanda-seyfried-defends-calling-charlie-kirk-hateful-amid-backlash-says-his-murder-was-absolutely-disturbing-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/31860\/","title":{"rendered":"Amanda Seyfried defends calling Charlie Kirk &#8216;hateful&#8217; amid backlash, says his murder was &#8216;absolutely disturbing&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/person\/amanda-seyfried\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Amanda Seyfried;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Amanda Seyfried<\/a> is defending herself from backlash after calling Charlie Kirk &#8220;hateful&#8221; in a comment posted after his death.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Days after Kirk was <a href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/charlie-kirk-dies-at-31-after-being-shot-in-utah-11807591\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:fatally shot in the neck;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">fatally shot in the neck<\/a> during a college speaking event in Utah on Sept. 10, an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/DOjoDNdCZ6S\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Instagram video;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Instagram video<\/a> from the account @So.Informed highlighted several controversial remarks that Kirk had made about abortion, immigration, trans rights, and more. Agreeing with the post in a Tuesday comment, Seyfried wrote, &#8220;He was hateful.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">She was subsequently criticized for the comment, prompting the actress to clarify her remark in a separate Instagram post.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;We&#8217;re forgetting the nuance of humanity,&#8221; Seyfried wrote in her Wednesday <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DOtN_cJjQyF\/?hl=en\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:statement;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">statement<\/a>. &#8220;I can get angry about misogyny and racist rhetoric and ALSO very much agree that Charlie Kirk\u2019s 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?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Leon Bennett\/Getty Amanda Seyfried attends the premiere of \" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/9b089c61a9dc5bcbc0aa94562c5f7a53.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Leon Bennett\/Getty<\/p>\n<p> Amanda Seyfried attends the premiere of &#8220;The Testament of Ann Lee&#8221; during the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">She captioned the post with the note, &#8220;I don\u2019t 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\u2019t that what we should be having?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Kirk, a 31-year-old conservative activist and the co-founder of Turning Point USA, was discussing mass shootings on the campus of Utah Valley University when he was shot. Though he was rushed to a nearby hospital, he was soon pronounced dead. Kirk&#8217;s death has divided the public.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Seyfried is one of many public figures who have <a href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/stephen-king-apologizes-charlie-kirk-advocated-stoning-gays-11808874\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:sparked outrage;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">sparked outrage<\/a> for bringing up past statements of Kirk&#8217;s, with critics claiming that such a reaction condones politically motivated violence. The Trump administration has since <a href=\"https:\/\/spectrumlocalnews.com\/me\/maine\/politics\/2025\/09\/16\/trump-administration-republicans-policing-speech-charlie-kirk\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:vowed to punish;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">vowed to punish<\/a> those it deems not properly mournful.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Seyfried&#8217;s second statement is more in line with the approach that several of her Hollywood peers have taken, condemning Kirk&#8217;s shooting death while disagreeing with his politics. Earlier this week, <a href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/person\/jamie-lee-curtis\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Jamie Lee Curtis;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Jamie Lee Curtis<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/jamie-lee-curtis-gets-emotional-about-charlie-kirk-death-11810710\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:fought back tears;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">fought back tears<\/a> on Marc Maron\u2019s &#8220;WTF&#8221; podcast when discussing Kirk.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;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,&#8221; the Freakier Friday actress said. &#8220;Even though his ideas were abhorrent to me. I still believe he\u2019s a father and a husband and a man of faith. And I hope whatever connection to God means that he felt it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Trent Nelson\/The Salt Lake Tribune\/Getty Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025 for his \" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/706ddbe9ffe4c2a5dd2b4be88c1c76cd.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Trent Nelson\/The Salt Lake Tribune\/Getty<\/p>\n<p> Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025 for his &#8220;American Comeback Tour&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Expressing a <a href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/michael-keaton-reacts-charlie-kirk-killed-gun-11810767\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:similar sentiment;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">similar sentiment<\/a> at the Investigative Reporters and Editors\u2019 50th anniversary gala on Monday, <a href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/person\/michael-keaton\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Michael Keaton;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Michael Keaton<\/a> told reporters, &#8220;Regardless of how I probably \u2014 not probably \u2014 have disagreed with many things he said, Charlie Kirk leaves behind two kids and a wife. You gotta remember that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">He then added that &#8220;in the end, shooting people will never answer anything,&#8221; while noting &#8220;the irony that he was killed with a gun is unbelievable.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Want more movie news? Sign up for\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/forms.dotdashmeredith.com\/ewk-movie-opt-in\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Entertainment Weekly;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Entertainment Weekly<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/forms.dotdashmeredith.com\/ewk-movie-opt-in\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:&#039;s\u00a0free newsletter;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">&#8216;s\u00a0free newsletter<\/a>\u00a0to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Like Keaton, many have pointed out the irony that Kirk was a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment. During a clip shared from <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JasonSCampbell\/status\/1643977032509067272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1643977032509067272%7Ctwgr%5E7e432a9549d971e4b137121ddba2b23374452b57%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsweek.com%2Fcharlie-kirk-says-gun-deaths-worth-it-2nd-amendment-1793113\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:a 2023 interview;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">a 2023 interview<\/a>, he argued, &#8220;It\u2019s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Read the original article on <a href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/amanda-seyfried-defends-calling-charlie-kirk-hateful-amid-backlash-11812183\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Entertainment Weekly;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Entertainment Weekly<\/a><\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Amanda Seyfried is defending herself from backlash after calling Charlie Kirk &#8220;hateful&#8221; in a comment posted after his&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30092,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[18251,17757,156,111,139,69,18850],"class_list":["post-31860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-amanda-seyfried","tag-charlie-kirk","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-utah-valley-university"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31860\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}