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Kristin Chenoweth is having “a human moment of reflection” following her reaction to the death of Charlie Kirk.
Speaking to NY1 in a new interview, the Tony-winning actress, 57, addressed the controversy over a recent post on her Instagram account that said she was “upset” after the right-wing political commentator was fatally shot on Sept. 10.
“Didn’t always agree but appreciated some perspectives,” Chenoweth had written, as Playbill reported. “What a heartbreak. His young family. I know where he is now. Heaven. But still.”
“I saw what happened online with my own eyes,” the producer-star of The Queen of Versailles told NY1 host Frank DiLella. “And I had a human moment of reflection.”
Seeing the response to her reaction over the death of Kirk, who repeated anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-women talking points, she continued, “I came to understand that my comment hurt some folks and that hurt me. So I would never — it’s no secret that I have been, that I’m a Christian, that I’m a person of faith. It’s also no secret that I am an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community.”
For some fans, Chenoweth added, Christianity and LGBTQ+ advocacy don’t “go together. But for me it always has. And it always will.”
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Kirk died at age 31 after being shot during a campus event at Utah Valley University. Utah resident Tyler Robinson, 22, has been charged with killing the Turning Point USA founder.
President Donald Trump and many other Washington politicians spoke out, condemning the shooting in its aftermath. In addition to Chenoweth, celebrities including Chris Pratt, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rosie O’Donnell posted their reactions on social media.
Chenoweth stars in The Queen of Versailles, a new musical reuniting her with Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz. It features the Emmy winner as socialite Jacqueline “Jackie” Siegel and F. Murray Abraham as her husband David Siegel the “Timeshare King.”
Of the role, she told NY1, “I’m 57 now, and I’m looking for complicated characters to play and ways to challenge myself.”
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The Queen of Versailles opens Nov. 9 at Broadway’s St. James Theatre.
