In a recent interview with The New York Times, Sean Penn reflected on the passing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Though the One Battle After Another star admitted he disagreed with “almost everything” Kirk stood for, he emphasized that “we need” voices like Kirk’s to encourage open discussion on social issues.
“We need that debate,” Penn said. “We’ve gotta fight it out and find a compromise. [Acts of political violence] do come into fashion, and the way we kill the fashion of it is people of conscience on both sides recognizing that if somebody really believes something, that’s your friend.”
Penn stressed that the nation is in urgent need of mutual understanding across political lines, and that differing viewpoints should be seen as “valid opinions.”
“I’m talking about if somebody believes that a human being starts at conception, if you can’t understand that concept, you’re just stupid,” Penn said. “And if you’re not willing to tolerate the concept as a concept that’s held as deeply as I may have a belief that, I don’t know, let the woman decide. All of these are valid opinions.”
Penn joins a growing number of Hollywood figures who have commented on Kirk’s legacy. Stars like Stephen Colbert, Whoopi Goldberg, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Keaton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Amanda Seyfried have all shared their thoughts in the weeks following his death.
Kirk passed away on Sept. 10 during a speaking engagement at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. He was 31.
Donald Trump announced Kirk’s death on Truth Social, writing: “The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!
