SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA – Stephen King, a bestselling author, is at the center of a big issue after making a false claim about the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk after his death. People are quite upset with him. The backlash has gotten so bad that fake claims about Kirk’s wife, Erika Kirk, filing a lawsuit have spread quickly, even though there is no official news about it.
The anger started soon after Kirk was shot and killed on September 10. King wrote on X that Kirk “advocated for stoning gays.” This post rapidly caused a lot of trouble, as many people pointed out that Kirk had never said anything like this, even if he had said a lot of other things that were controversial.
It looks like King’s assertion was based on a misunderstanding of something Kirk said about Ms. Rachel, a popular YouTuber for kids. Kirk was talking about Ms. Rachel’s usage of the Bible verse “love thy neighbor” to defend Pride Month celebrations on a live webcast. Kirk then replied, “By the way, Ms. Rachel, you might want to open that Bible of yours. In a less well-known chapter of the Bible, Leviticus 18 says that “thou shall lay with another man shall be stoned to death.” Just saying.
King removed his first tweet and said he was sorry when a lot of people criticized him and checked the facts. “I apologize for saying that Charlie Kirk wanted to stone gays,” King wrote. “What he really showed was how some people pick and choose Bible verses.” He then wrote a follow-up post in which he said, “I was wrong, and I’m sorry.” The post is gone.
But the apology hasn’t done much to calm the rage of Kirk’s followers and the public in general. A lot of people have called Erika Kirk since the incident, telling her to sue the author. There have even been bogus posts saying that a lawsuit has already been filed because of all the noise online. These statements have been seen and shared millions of times on social media.
The argument shows how quickly false information spreads online, especially right after a big event. Erika Kirk hasn’t said anything publicly about a possible lawsuit, but the event shows how tense the political climate is and how quickly false charges can spread.