Actor Charlie Sheen is facing backlash for comments he made to to Joe Rogan as the podcast host learned in real time that conservative activist Charlie Kirk had been fatally shot during a campus appearance in Utah.
Rogan was recording a new episode of The Joe Rogan Experience with Sheen when producers interrupted with news of the shooting. Kirk, 31, was speaking to a crowd of 3,000 at Utah Valley University on Wednesday when a single shot struck him in the neck. The university confirmed he died at the scene.
The moment on the podcast saw Rogan appear stunned by the update. “Should we bring this up? I guess we have to,” he said, holding his head. “So this has just happened. We just found out that Charlie Kirk got shot.”
Sheen responded immediately, saying, “That’s f—ing awful.” Rogan then asked his producer Jamie Vernon, “And…is he dead? One of the guys out there just said it was confirmed that he was dead. Murdered for having a different opinion from somebody else. Different ideology from somebody else…beliefs that didn’t align.”
When Vernon confirmed Kirk’s death, Sheen expressed empathy and tried to steady the moment. “Rest in peace. F—. 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.”
However, fans stormed social media as they fumed over Sheen’s reaction. One person said, “Tired of this “different opinion” bullsh– f—er spread a hateful and harmful rhetoric.”
“Charlie sheen just pissing me off even more,” one more added. A third noted, “I’m sick of these mfs and this “different opinion” bullsh–. Racism is not simply a “difference of opinion.””
“The most frightening thing is that the first thing Sheen says is “For thinking differently.” We’ve taken it for granted that that’s the reason, and it shouldn’t be that way,” a final viewer posted.
Meanwhile, investigators released footage of the suspected shooter. The FBI said the man, described as appearing to be college-aged, fled the campus by climbing onto a nearby roof and escaping into a neighborhood. A high-powered bolt action rifle believed to have been used in the attack was later recovered in a wooded area.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.the-express.com ’
