Charlie Kirk’s podcast team hit back at Pete Davidson after a clip from Netflix’s “The Roast of Kevin Hart” circulated online, with critics calling the joke about Kirk’s 2025 assassination “distasteful” and raising sharper questions about morality and online o
Pete Davidson’s roast line about Charlie Kirk’s death is now everywhere online, and Kirk’s own people aren’t letting it slide.
During a May 11 discussion on “The Charlie Kirk Show” podcast. Andrew Kolvet. Blake Neff. and Daisy Phelps weighed in after attention surged around Davidson’s appearance tied to Netflix’s “The Roast of Kevin Hart. ” where the comedian referenced Kirk’s 2025 assassination.. Kirk’s team said the timing and framing landed the wrong way—especially because the death involved violence that was widely recorded and closely tied to their personal connection.
Kolvet led with a blunt reaction, calling the joke “distasteful.” He pointed to the specifics of how Kirk died and why the response felt inevitable for people who knew him.
“This is about somebody who was murdered in really the most grotesque, public way imaginable, and he happens to be our close friend,” Kolvet told listeners. He added that his “instinct was to cringe” upon seeing the clip, while emphasizing he wasn’t trying to police comedy.
“Comedy can be a powerful outlet,” Kolvet said, “but for this particular moment, it just felt distasteful.”
Phelps framed the pushback as a matter of morality. While she said Davidson had the right to tell the joke, she questioned whether it should have been told at all.
She pointed to other controversies involving Davidson, including jokes made about Davidson’s father, a firefighter killed in the September 11 attacks, calling those “equally disgusting.” Phelps also noted the personal cost for Kirk’s family, saying Kirk’s children “are growing up without their dad.”
Neff took a wider look at the backlash. saying online attacks on Erika Kirk were “more appalling” than Davidson’s joke.. He also described Charlie Kirk as an “iconic figure. ” drawing a parallel between the roast-style cruelty aimed at Kirk and the way certain historical assassinations—like the assassination of President John F.. Kennedy—have been fodder for jokes for years.
And Neff’s comments came as Davidson’s clip continued to spread across political commentary channels.
For his part, Davidson’s roast remarks were delivered while roasting comedian Tony Hinchcliffe. In the bit, Davidson said, “Tony reminds me of Charlie Kirk, in that he definitely has been on camera letting a guy unload in his throat.”
The reaction appeared to swing negative. with many viewers saying it felt too soon after Kirk’s death. which was confirmed in the clip’s broader coverage and described as a fatal shooting in the neck at a public event while Kirk spoke to students at Utah Valley University.. The moment was recorded and widely circulated online.
Davidson then added a darker wordplay on Hinchcliffe’s podcast title, saying, “Kill Tony, please. Someone f******* kill Tony.”
Online, the criticism came quickly. One user on X wrote, “Anything goes in comedy, but this ain’t it. Charlie was murdered just 8 months ago and we wonder why people have become so desensitized to political violence.” Another posted, “Pete Davidson just showed what kind of person he is.”
The controversy isn’t new for Davidson either—he’s previously been the subject of roast jokes about his father’s death, including at a Netflix event and at the 2015 Comedy Central Roast of Justin Bieber.
It also comes amid earlier backlash over entertainment figures commenting on Kirk’s killing.. ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel briefly saw his late-night show suspended from the network after comments about Charlie’s murder. a situation that led to threats from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. who launched an early review of Disney’s broadcast licenses.
Back on Kirk’s podcast, the message from his team was clear: even if the format is comedy, the joke’s target and timing made it feel different—especially to people who say they knew him well.
Charlie Kirk Pete Davidson Tony Hinchcliffe Netflix The Roast of Kevin Hart The Charlie Kirk Show Andrew Kolvet Blake Neff Daisy Phelps Erika Kirk comedy controversy