Featured Image Credit: Michael M. Santiago/Getty/Thos Robinson/Getty
Topics: Elon Musk, Stephen King, Charlie Kirk, Social Media
Emily Brown
Topics: Elon Musk, Stephen King, Charlie Kirk, Social Media
Warning: This article contains discussion of discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community which some readers may find distressing.
Elon Musk hit Stephen King with a blunt accusation after the famous horror author made a claim about activist Charlie Kirk following his assassination in Utah.
Musk and King are among a number of celebrities who have shared posts related to Kirk after the Turning Point USA founder was killed during a debate event at Utah Valley University on September 10.
Kirk was in the middle of speaking with an audience member about gun violence when he was suddenly struck in the neck with a single gunshot seemingly fired from a nearby rooftop, ultimately causing fatal injuries.
Advert
Tributes have flooded in for Kirk, including from President Donald Trump who described him as 'legendary', but some social media users have noted that Kirk was a divisive figure with a lot of critics at the time of his death.
King is among those who refused to ignore some of Kirk's more controversial actions, as proven when he responded to Fox News' Jesse Watters, who claimed Kirk was not 'controversial' or 'polarizing'.
Watters added: "Charlie was a PATRIOT... Rest in peace, my friend."
In response, King claimed: "He advocated stoning gays to death. Just sayin’."
King's comment appears to come in reference to a video in which Kirk quoted Leviticus 18 in the Bible while discussing pride month, after YouTuber Ms. Rachel referred to the religious text to remind people to 'love your neighbor as yourself'.
Kirk said: "By the way Ms. Rachel, you might want to crack open that Bible of yours, in a lesser referenced part in the same part of scripture, is in Leviticus 18 is that 'Thou shall lay with another man, shall be stoned to death.' Just saying... [This chapter] affirms God's perfect law when it comes to sexual matters."
In response to King's comment, one social media user argued: "Clearly Charlie Kirk was showing how people cherry pick which parts of the Bible they honor. He wasn’t himself advocating for the violence Stephen King described."
After coming across King's post, Musk did not hold back as he hit the author with a one-word response: "Liar."
Kirk had previously made clear that he opposed same-sex marriage, writing in 2019: "I believe marriage is one man one woman."
At the time, he added: "Also gay people should be welcome in the conservative movement. As Christians we are called to love everyone."
In September 2024, Kirk told a gay Wisconsin college student: “I don’t agree with your lifestyle."
Though King made clear he disagreed with Kirk's beliefs, he also shared a post from Barack Obama condemning the death of the activist.
Obama's post read: "We don’t yet know what motivated the person who shot and killed Charlie Kirk, but this kind of despicable violence has no place in our democracy. Michelle and I will be praying for Charlie’s family tonight, especially his wife Erika and their two young children."
Sharing the post, King added: "All correct."
UNILAD has reached out to King for comment.
If you or someone you know has been affected by gun violence, please find more information and support via Survivors Empowered on their website.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the LGBT national hotline at 888-843-4564, available Monday to Friday 4pm-12am ET and 12pm-5pm ET on Saturdays.