Podcasters Jennifer Welch and Angie “Pumps” Sullivan released an apology Saturday following backlash over the duo laughing at a joke about the killing of right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk.
“It was an insensitive joke, and we should not have laughed,” read a statement posted on the “I’ve Had It” podcast’s Instagram page. “We regret it, and we apologize.”
On Thursday’s episode, the two read jokes aloud from social media following Tuesday’s midterm elections. After major Democratic wins across the country, many social media users were joking around about the return of “woke” or playing on conservative fears about a liberal-run future.
But Welch and Sullivan sparked major ire when they laughed at a post that read, “we’re digging up Charlie Kirk and doing it again.”
As of Saturday, the moment had been edited out of the version of the episode on YouTube and Spotify, though it remained in clips circulating on social media.
Payment platform Cash App said Thursday on X that it was no longer sponsoring the podcast, while bedding company Boll & Branch said it “does not currently advertise” with the show and “will not in the future.” On Saturday, pet supply retailer Chewy posted that it does “not sponsor or support the ‘I’ve Had It’ podcast.”
Kirk was assassinated last year by a gunman while speaking at a debate on a Utah college campus.
“Whatever our political differences, there is nothing funny about gun violence,” the podcast hosts’ statement said. “We’ve long supported common-sense gun safety reform.”
They added that they donated to Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit geared toward ending gun violence.