Former ‘Wicked’ star reveals backlash over Charlie Kirk comments ‘nearly broke’ her
Former Broadway “Wicked” actress Kristin Chenoweth said the backlash to her sympathetic social media post on Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk‘s death “nearly broke” her on Monday.
The Broadway star spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about her latest role in the play “The Queen of Versailles” when she was asked about her Instagram post reacting to Kirk’s assassination in September.
“I’m. So. Upset. Didn’t always agree but appreciated some perspectives. What a heartbreak. His young family. I know where he is now. Heaven. But still,” Chenoweth wrote at the time.
Chenoweth received intense backlash from her fans, who accused her of betraying the LGBTQ+ community by mourning the conservative activist.
“It was tough on me, but I’m not going to answer any questions about it because I dealt with it,” Chenoweth said Monday. “It nearly broke me, and that’s all I’m going to say. You probably know my heart, so you probably know.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Turning Point USA for comment.
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Chenoweth had previously responded to the backlash during an interview with NY1 in September.
“I saw what happened online with my own eyes and I had a human moment of reflection right then,” Chenoweth said. “I came to understand that my comment hurt some folks and that hurt me so badly. I would never. It’s no secret that I’m a Christian, that I’m a person of faith. It’s also no secret that I am an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community and for some, that doesn’t go together. But for me, it always has, and it always will.”
Chenoweth’s comments came about one week after actress Jamie Lee Curtis seemed to walk back her own positive comments towards Kirk after similarly receiving backlash.
“An excerpt of it mistranslated what I was saying as I wished him well — like I was talking about him in a very positive way, which I wasn’t; I was simply talking about his faith in God,” Curtis told Variety. “And so it was a mistranslation, which is a pun, but not.”
She had previously teared up over Kirk’s death, saying, “I mean, 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 to his faith. Even though I find what his ideas were abhorrent to me, I still believe he’s a father and a husband and a man of faith, and I hope whatever ‘connection to God’ means, that he felt it.”
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