Shortly after Charlie Kirk was shot during a talk at a Utah university earlier this month, Comedy Central made the decision to take down an episode of South Park featuring the right-wing commentator. Now, Andrew Kolvet — one of the executive producers for The Charlie Kirk Show and a close friend of Kirk — is saying that the late political influencer enjoyed the episode and would have wanted the network to continue airing it.
On Wednesday, Kolvet uploaded a post to X that read, "As someone who can speak with some authority on this, Charlie loved that he was featured in South Park. He told me many times. He would want the episode back up."
Kirk himself spoke about seeing a clip of the episode in a video for Fox News Digital earlier this year. "Honestly, my first reaction was that I kinda laughed," the controversial figure said, adding that he used to watch South Park in high school and, even without seeing the full episode, he considered it a source of pride. "It's kinda funny, and it kinda goes to show the cultural impact and the resonance that our movement has been able to achieve. So I look at this as a badge of honor."
He added, "We as conservatives need to be able to take a joke. We shouldn't take ourselves so seriously. That's something that the left has always done, to great detriment to themselves and the movement. And look, again, they're professional comedians, and they're probably going to roast me, and I think that's fine. That's what it's all about, being in public life and making a difference."
In the days following Kirk's death, several public figures have faced repercussions for portraying the political activist in an irreverent or critical light. And on Wednesday, comedian Jimmy Kimmel, who referenced Kirk and the MAGA movement on his late-night show, faced perhaps the most surprising punishment yet. In the evening, ABC abruptly announced that they would be pulling Jimmy Kimmel Live! from the air.
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