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Podcast Hosts Apologize After Laughing at Joke About Digging Up Charlie Kirk's Body
Confirmed
In Short: Jennifer Welch and Angie Sullivan of 'I've Had It' apologized for laughing at a joke about digging up the body of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed on September 10, 2025, while speaking at a campus event at Utah Valley University in Orem.
During a recent episode of their podcast, 'I've Had It,' hosts Jennifer Welch and Angie Sullivan laughed at a social media post that read, 'We’re digging up Charlie Kirk and doing it again.'
Several companies, including Cash App and Ethos, have pulled their advertising from the podcast, citing the hosts' comments as a violation of their values and a promotion of violence.
Erika Kirk, Charlie's widow, condemned the treatment of political assassination as entertainment, stating, 'My husband, Charlie Kirk, was killed in an act of political violence, something our two children and I will live with every day for the rest of our lives.'
The account that first posted the 'digging up' line has since been set to private, but the damage had already been done, with the joke spreading widely on social media.
Despite the backlash, some supporters of the podcast have defended the hosts, arguing that the laughter was a spontaneous reaction to a provocative post.
Charlie Kirk's death has become a flashpoint for discussions about political violence and free speech, with comedians and podcasters facing criticism for making jokes about the incident.
What this adds
While some companies have pulled their advertising, others have remained silent, leaving the future of the podcast's sponsorship uncertain.
What's confirmed
- “On Thursday’s show, we laughed at a joke about Charlie Kirk,” the pair wrote.
- Kirk, the 31-year-old Turning Point USA founder, was shot and killed September 10, 2025, while speaking at a campus event at Utah Valley University in Orem.
- One person posted online, “we’re digging up Charlie Kirk and doing it again.” The statement prompted 20 seconds of laughter from the hosts, who said they would not comment.
What's still developing
- The hosts then claimed Kirk’s accused killer, Tyler Robinson, was “a MAGA person” from a “white MAGA family.” Robinson was registered to vote without a party affiliation, and his mother told police he had grown more supportive of gay and transgender rights before the shooting.
- “We don’t condone or align with the comments made on the ‘I’ve had it’ podcast. What was said on this show doesn’t reflect our values, and we don’t condone violence in any form. We’ve ended our advertising relationship and won’t be working with them moving forward,” Ethos posted on Saturday.
- The joke at hand, which has since been edited out of Thursday’s “I’ve Had It” episode, came about in a segment where Welch read social media jokes from listeners celebrating the Democrats’ midterm wins.
- But other companies agreed with Cash App that it was no laughing matter.
- On Sunday, Erika Kirk called recent jokes by Chappelle and others “beyond disgusting,” following the comedian’s two-night Madison Square Garden stint for his Karmageddon Tour, where he made a morbid joke about Charlie’s Sept. 10, 2025 public shooting death.
- The statement comes after Charlie Kirk supporters called out Chappelle for his joke at Saturday’s set, in which he said “I feel better” after Kirk was killed.