Kristin Chenoweth says backlash to Charlie Kirk comments ‘nearly broke me’

Kristin Chenoweth is reflecting on the “tough” time after her not so popular comments about the death of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk angered her fanbase for seemingly alluding to agreeing with some of his extremist views.

“It was tough on me, but I’m not going to answer any questions about it because I dealt with it,” the Tony-winning actress said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter on Monday.

The hard time in question occurred in September when Chenoweth was the target of intense criticism for her Instagram comments following the Sept. 10 assassination of Kirk, the ultra conservative activist and media personality known for his viral “Prove Me Wrong” series. Kirk died after being shot during an event at Utah Valley University. He was 31.

At the time, Chenoweth wrote, “I’m. So. Upset. Didn’t always agree but appreciated some perspectives. What a heartbreak. His young family. I know where he is now. Heaven. But still.”

She shared a similar comment under the post of actress Selma Blair, who took to Instagram and wrote, “This incredible man. Who would go into the cauldron of indoctrination. And use logic to have dialogue. I am sick for his family. For all of us.”

Chenoweth replied to Blair, writing, “What you said Selma.”

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The comments seemed to violently jar Chenoweth’s fanbase, which is majorly composed of the LGBTQ+ community — a main target of Kirk’s talking points. Much of the backlash aimed at Chenoweth called notice to her wording on having “appreciated some perspectives” and agreeing with Blair that he was an “incredible man.”

Looking back at the time, Chenoweth told The Hollywood Reporter that “it nearly broke me,” declaring that was all she would say on the matter. “You probably know my heart, so you probably know.”

It isn’t the first time Chenoweth, who has described herself as a “non-judgmental, liberal Christian,” addressed her comments and the subsequent backlash. During an interview with Spectrum News/NY1, she claimed that “I saw what happened online with my own eyes and I had a human moment of reflection right then.”

The Broadway star added, “I came to understand that my comment hurt some folks and that hurt me so badly. I would never. It’s no secret that I’m a Christian, that I’m a person of faith. It’s also no secret that I am an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community and for some, that doesn’t go together. But for me, it always has and it always will.”

Chenoweth isn’t the only star whose been in hot water over their Kirk comments. Jamie Lee Curtis also incurred backlash after getting teary-eyed during an interview on the WTF podcast that was released five days after Kirk was shot.

“I disagreed with him on almost every point I ever heard him say. But I believe he was a man of faith, and I hope in that moment when he died that he felt connected to his faith,” Curtis said at the time. But she later clarified that her comments were “mistranslated” to imply “I was talking about him in a very positive way, which I wasn’t; I was simply talking about his faith in God.”

Curtis added that she feels hamstrung by “the binary world today,” in which “you cannot hold two ideas at the same time: I cannot be Jewish and totally believe in Israel’s right to exist and at the same time reject the destruction of Gaza. You can’t say that, because you get vilified.”

The Halloween actress disavowed the notion that she needs to watch her words as a public figure, saying, “I don’t have to be careful…. I can’t not be who I am in the moment I am.”

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly