Dave Chappelle is facing criticism after a remark about Charlie Kirk’s murder during a sold-out Madison Square Garden show on his Karmageddon tour. Clips circulated online despite the event’s phone-free policy.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Chappelle said, “Ever since that guy Charlie Kirk got murdered — and I shouldn’t say this publicly — but I feel better.” He reportedly went on to say he knew he should not say it publicly but that it was how he felt. The Times placed the remarks at Saturday night’s performance; Variety described the leaked footage as coming from Friday’s show, so the exact night remains unclear. As of Sunday, Chappelle’s representatives had not responded to the Times’ requests for comment.
The leaked footage appeared on social media even though phones were prohibited at the show. Complex reported that the clip omits what Chappelle said immediately before and after the remark, leaving the joke’s surrounding context unclear.
Erika Kirk and Piers Morgan Respond
Charlie Kirk, founder of the conservative group Turning Point USA, was shot and killed in September 2025 while speaking at a college event in Utah. Tyler Robinson has been charged in the killing, the Los Angeles Times reported. In a post on X, Erika Kirk criticized treating political assassination and human destruction as entertainment, calling it a sign of moral decay that threatens the country and democracy. The Times noted that she did not say what specifically prompted her statement.
Piers Morgan also criticized Chappelle’s remark on X, calling it disgusting. The Los Angeles Times reported that Morgan pointed to Chappelle’s experience surviving a stage attack in 2022.
Podcast Hosts Lose Sponsors Over Separate Joke
The Chappelle controversy follows a separate backlash over a joke about Kirk. During Thursday’s episode of the I’ve Had It podcast, hosts Jennifer Welch and Angie “Pumps” Sullivan reportedly laughed at a joke about digging up Kirk and doing it again, according to a report cited by the Los Angeles Times.
The hosts apologized on Instagram, writing, “It was an insensitive joke, and we should not have laughed,” and, “We regret it, and we apologize.” They said they donated to Everytown for Gun Safety. Cash App and other advertisers then left the podcast; Cash App said in a post on X that it no longer sponsored the show and did not condone violence of any kind.
At least nine companies withdrew sponsorships after the podcast clip went viral, Business Insider reported. The companies named included Cash App, Zenni, Casper and Honeylove.
Part of a Broader Comedy Flashpoint
Other comedy material about Kirk’s killing has also drawn attention. Michael Che’s Netflix special, Michael Che: Shot in Minnesota, released in October 2026, began with jokes about the murder. Che told the Los Angeles Times that he wanted people to “laugh at the things that horrify you”; the special’s opening joke said straight white conservative Christian men were being silenced.
Legal context and an earlier corporate response
A 2013 Second Circuit dissent, citing Supreme Court precedent, said incitement requires speech directed at producing imminent lawless action and likely to produce it. The opinion distinguished incitement from true threats; this legal framework does not determine whether Chappelle’s remarks crossed any legal line, according to the Second Circuit dissenting opinion hosted by GovInfo. An earlier, distinct example of a company responding to a comedian’s remarks involved Gilbert Gottfried. The New York Times reported that on March 14, 2011, Aflac fired Gottfried as the voice of its duck after his remarks about the disaster in Japan—a case involving a corporate spokesperson and a natural disaster, rather than podcast sponsorships or jokes about a murder.
Alex Wigglesworth, a Los Angeles Times staff writer, reported the Chappelle story for the paper's California section, with Stuart Miller contributing to the report.
