Horror icon Stephen King apologized after saying that the late Charlie Kirk “advocated stoning gays to death,” saying that he had misrepresented the conservative activist’s words.

“I apologize for saying Charlie Kirk advocated stoning gays,” King wrote on X. “What he actually demonstrated was how some people cherry-pick Biblical passages.”

King made the statement about Kirk and stoning gay people in response to Fox News’ Jesse Watters’ tweeting that Kirk was not a “controversial” or “polarizing” figure.

King echoed claims that Kirk was for stoning based on this clip:

In the clip, Kirk is seen responding to children’s entertainer Ms. Rachel using a Biblical verse from Leviticus — a call to love your neighbor — to ask for tolerance.

Kirk notes that another Leviticus verse, often cited by anti-gay groups, condemns men laying with other men.

Stephen King and Others Criticized for Speaking About the Death of Free Speech Advocate Charlie Kirk

King was criticized by many of Kirk’s friends and supporters, included Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, who called him a “horrible, evil, twisted liar.”

King took time to respond to many of his critics, including Cruz, and note that he had apologized.

“The horrible, evil, twisted liar apologizes,” King said in a response to Cruz. “This is what I get for reading something on Twitter w/o fact-checking. Won’t happen again.” 

King, whose many novels have inspired classic films from Carrie to The Shining to Mercy to The Shawshank Redemption, is one of the most read and influential writers of our time, known for merging nuanced portrayals of small-town, typical American life with the most horrific of scenarios.

In recent years, he has also emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of conservative policies, and especially the Trump administration.

While the overwhelming response to Kirk’s death has been condemnation of the violence by Democrats and Republicans alike, a handful of people have been fired or lost jobs because of celebrations of Kirk’s death, or questions and criticisms deemed impertinent. The Associated Press has catalogued several incidents of people being fired or otherwise penalized.

On Thursday, Republican Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana went on X to demand that “big tech” ban “from ALL PLATFORMS FOREVER” anyone who “ran their mouth with their smarta– hatred celebrating the heinous murder of that beautiful young man who dedicated his whole life to delivering respectful conservative truth into the hearts of liberal enclave universities, armed only with a Bible and a microphone and a Constitution.”

Higgins also threatened “going after their business licenses and permitting” and called for “their businesses [to] be blacklisted aggressively,” adding that they should be “kicked from every school, and [that] their drivers licenses should be revoked.”

He added: “I’m basically going to cancel with extreme prejudice these evil, sick animals who celebrated Charlie Kirk’s assassination. I’m starting that today.”

Many people of all political beliefs called Higgins’ tweet a case of government threatening to censor speech in exactly the sort of manner that Kirk, an outspoken free-speech advocate, opposed.

Several people also highlighted an old tweet in which Higgins made fun of a 2022 hammer attack on Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, in their San Francisco home.

Even before Higgins’ tweet, several media platforms took steps to avoid any appearance of insensitivity.

Comedy Central, for example, pulled an episode of South Park from re-run rotation in which the show’s cantankerous Eric Cartman becomes a “master debator” in the vein of Charlie Kirk to debate with college students.

Kirk, weeks before his death, took the joke in stride, saying it was a “badge of honor” to be mocked by a cartoon he had grown up watching.

Main image: Stephen King.