Hollywood Star Talks ‘Irony’ of Charlie Kirk’s Death
Michael Keaton namechecked Kirk during his opening remarks at the Investigative Reporters and Editors gala on Monday night.

Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images
Michael Keaton has highlighted the “unbelievable” irony of Charlie Kirk’s death by a gunman’s bullet after spending his life arguing against gun control. The former Batman star was speaking at the 50th anniversary gala of the Investigative Reporters and Editors nonprofit in New York City on Monday night. “Before we start to get into the meat of this thing, I’m going to take a minute to say that, regardless of how I probably—not probably—have disagreed with many things he said, Charlie Kirk leaves behind two kids and a wife,” Keaton said. “Because in the end, shooting people will never answer anything, and the irony that he was killed with a gun is unbelievable.” Kirk was shot dead at a college campus in Utah on Sept. 10, midway through answering a question about mass shootings. The right-wing activist had made his name advocating for gun rights during campus debates, even claiming that firearms deaths were the price to pay to preserve Second Amendment rights. “Charlie Kirk was murdered to silence his speech, and three months earlier, former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark were murdered to silence their speech,” 60 Minutes journalist Scott Pelley said at the same NYC event. “Whether you agreed with Kirk’s ideas or Hortman’s, their murders, their silencing is blood on the First Amendment,” he added.
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