University professor fired over Charlie Kirk comments reinstated and lands massive payout

A university professor who was wrongly fired over a social media post about Charlie Kirk has been reinstated and given a massive payout.

Darren Michael is an associate professor of acting and directing at Austin Peay State University (APSU), and was dismissed after sharing an article commenting on the death of far-right activist Charlie Kirk.

Kirk was known for his hardline opinions, including calling the US Civil Rights Act a 'mistake' and opposing women's reproductive rights.

He was fatally shot while holding a debate at a college campus in Utah in September last year, with 22-year-old Tyler Robinson being named as the suspect and charged with aggravated murder, among other charges. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

The article that Michael shared drew attention to one of Kirk's previous comments about gun deaths in the US, with the far-right activist saying that some gun deaths would be acceptable in order to preserve Second Amendment Rights.

Charlie Kirk was shot dead while speaking at a college campus in September 2025 (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images)

Michael shared the article, which had the title "Charlie Kirk says gun deaths are ‘unfortunately’ worth it to keep 2nd Amendment," on Facebook, not including any personal comment in his post.

The screenshot of the article that Michael shared indicates that it was first published back in 2023, and refers to comments that Kirk made after six people, including three children and three adults, were killed in a school shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville on March 27, 2023.

After the shooting, Kirk told a Turning Point USA event: "I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights."

Darren Michael was dismissed from his job after sharing a social media post about Charlie Kirk (APSU Theatre & Dance)

Michael's post caught the attention of Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn, who responded by posting a headshot and biography of Michael online, along with his post and the caption 'What do you say, @austinpeay?'.

At the time, APSU released a statement confirming that Michael had been dismissed from his position over the social media post, which it called 'insensitive, disrespectful and interpreted by many as propagating justification for unlawful death'.

APSU president Mike Licari said in the statement: “Such actions do not align with Austin Peay’s commitment to mutual respect and human dignity.

“The university deems these actions unacceptable and has terminated the faculty member.”

Senator Marsha Blackburn drew attention to the post (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

But that decision has now come back to bite APSU, as Michael has been reinstated into his position and given a payout of $500,000, as well as reimbursing him for therapeutic counselling services.

An updated statement from the APSU said: “APSU agrees to issue a statement acknowledging regret for not following the tenure termination process in connection with the Dispute."

It adds: “The statement will be distributed via email through APSU’s reasonable communication channels to faculty, staff, and students.”