Organizations and individuals have had to confront and backtrack on comments made after the tragic shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Debate rages about whether the comments celebrated Kirk’s death or merely criticized his views. It puts organizations in a tough position, and many have sided with cancellation. A few examples stand out.

Kirk (pictured) was a polarizing figure due to his controversial views, especially on Black, gay and transgender people. But many folks feel the appalling Sept. 10 murder of a young man (Kirk was 31) was no time to dig in on these positions. The situation, an already fraught political one, also highlights that death — in this case, assassination — is different. The comments meant that organizations had to act — and communicate.

On Sunday, Sept. 14, Bloomberg Law reported that major law firm Perkins Coie fired an unnamed attorney for a social-media post apparently critical of Kirk. “These comments do not reflect the views of our firm, and the individual’s conduct in posting them fell far short of the expectations we have of everyone who works here,” Bloomberg quoted a Perkins Coie spokesman.

The issue is particularly sensitive for the firm, as Bloomberg noted, because Kirk was a close ally of President Trump, and Perkins Coie was the first law firm to sue over a Trump executive order that targeted it.

‘Deeply Regret’

Long Island, New York, newspaper Newsday, also on Sept. 14, apologized for a Kirk-related syndicated cartoon it ran the day before. “We deeply regret this mistake and sincerely apologize to the family of Charlie Kirk and to all,” it said in a statement. “We made an error in judgment. The cartoon has been removed from our digital platforms.” Still, local politicians called for a boycott of the newspaper.

Also in the journalism realm, MSNBC political commentator Matthew Dowd and Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah were fired for alleged anti-Kirk statements.

Finally, novelist Stephen King apologized on Sept. 12 for tweeting that Kirk had “advocated stoning gays to death.” “I apologize for saying Charlie Kirk advocated stoning gays,” King wrote, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “What he actually demonstrated was how some people cherry-pick Biblical passages.” (According to LGBTQ magazine the Advocate, Kirk on his podcast invoked with approval Leviticus 20:13, which called for killing gays.)

Of course, all this feeds into the debate over cancel culture. Should the Perkins Coie lawyer, Dowd and Attiah have been fired? Should Newsday be shunned or shut down for running the cartoon? We live in fraught political times. These are the types of issues crisis communicators must confront.

Photo Credit: Maxim Elramsisy/Shutterstock

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