Jamie Lee Curtis Breaks Silence on Backlash to Her Charlie Kirk Comments: ‘It Was a Mistranslation’

Jamie Lee Curtis has spoken out to clarify her comments about the death of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, which recently sparked heated reactions online.

The Oscar-winning actress appeared on the WTF with Marc Maron podcast last month, just two days after Kirk, 31, was shot and killed during a public event at Utah Valley University on September 10. During the emotional conversation, Curtis reflected on the tragedy, saying, “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.”

She added, “Even though his ideas were abhorrent to me, I still believe he’s a father and a husband and a man of faith. And I hope whatever connection to God means that he felt it.”

While many praised Curtis for expressing compassion toward someone with opposing political views, others criticized her remarks, suggesting she appeared to downplay Kirk’s controversial stance on transgender rights. (Curtis’ daughter, Ruby, 29, is transgender.)

In a new Variety interview published Tuesday, Oct. 28, Curtis addressed the backlash, explaining that her comments had been misinterpreted. “An excerpt of it mistranslated what I was saying as I wished him well, like I was talking about him in a very positive way, which I wasn’t. I was simply talking about his faith in God,” she said.

“So it was a mistranslation, which is a pun, but not,” she continued. “In the binary world today, 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 for having a mind that says, ‘I can hold both those thoughts. I can be contradictory in that way.’”

Curtis, who will be honored at Variety’s Power of Women event in Los Angeles on Oct. 29 for her philanthropic work with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, said she doesn’t censor herself when speaking publicly. “If I was careful, I wouldn’t have told you any of what I just told you,” she said. “I can’t not be who I am in the moment I am.”

In a July interview with The Guardian, Curtis also emphasized her long-standing commitment to advocacy. “I’m an outspoken advocate for the right of human beings to be who they are,” she said. “Any government, religion, or institution trying to limit that freedom is what I need to fight against.”