Amanda Seyfried has faced backlash for labeling political commentator Charlie Kirk “hateful” shortly after his murder. The 39-year-old stated that her remarks were met with an effort to discredit and attack her personally.
In the days following Kirk’s killing at a campus speaking tour stop in Utah, Seyfried responded to a compilation video purportedly showcasing his rhetoric by calling him hateful. She later justified her comments on Instagram, stating she was “angry about misogyny and racist rhetoric.”
During an interview, Seyfried stood firm while expressing disbelief over the backlash: “I’m allowed to fking voice my feelings, and B, do it in a way that’s not unkind necessarily.” She attributed the counterreaction to a societal impulse to bring people down: “There’s just an outsized fear and hatred and impulse to bash and to tear down. And I experienced a very small fraction of that.”
The actress added she hopes her children can feel safe expressing opinions as long as they are not harmful. Seyfried described becoming confused about what to say after the incident, saying she was suddenly “with a fking bodyguard at the airport” and exclaimed: “This is crazy.”
Seyfried had no issue labeling Kirk hateful so soon after his death. On September 17—just seven days after Kirk’s murder—she called for “spirited discourse,” which she noted was exactly what Kirk was known for.
“I don’t 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’t that what we should be having?” Seyfried wrote in an Instagram post caption.
In a text message, she added: “We’re forgetting the nuance of humanity. I can get angry about misogyny and racist rhetoric and ALSO very much agree that Charlie Kirk’s murder was absolutely disturbing and deplorable in every way imaginable.”
By December, Seyfried had shifted her stance when telling an outlet: “I’m not fking apologizing.” She downplayed the timing of her comments: “I commented on one thing. I said something that was based on actual reality and actual footage and actual quotes. What I said was pretty damn factual, and I’m free to have an opinion.”
