Jamie Lee Curtis clarifies comments on Charlie Kirk’s death
LOS ANGELES
Jamie Lee Curtis has addressed criticism over her emotional comments following the death of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, saying her remarks were “mistranslated” and misunderstood.
In September, the Oscar-winning actor appeared on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast, where she teared up while explaining that she “disagreed with him on almost every point I ever heard him say” but hoped he felt “connected to his faith” when he died.
While some on social media praised Curtis for showing empathy toward someone with opposing political views, others accused her of excusing Kirk’s controversial rhetoric, particularly his rejection of transgender people. One of Curtis’ daughters, 29-year-old Ruby, is transgender.
In a new interview with Variety published Oct. 28, Curtis responded to the backlash for the first time, saying: “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.”
She went on to reflect on how nuance has been lost in public discourse. “It was a mistranslation, which is a pun, but not,” she said. “In the binary world today, you cannot hold two ideas at the same time. I cannot be Jewish and totally believe in Israel’s right to exist and at the same time reject the destruction of Gaza. You can’t say that, because you get vilified for having a mind that says, ‘I can hold both those thoughts.’”
