Popular progressive podcast sees sponsors flee after ‘insensitive’ Charlie Kirk joke

A popular progressive podcast has seen its sponsors flee after laughing at a joke about the slain conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, which the hosts later admitted was “insensitive.”

Jennifer Welch and Angie Sullivan read social media posts reacting to Tuesday’s midterm election — in which Democrats took control of the House and Senate and won key governors’ races — on Thursday’s episode of their I’ve Had It podcast.

They both cracked up to a post that read, “We’re digging up Charlie Kirk and doing it again.”

The clip has since been cut from the episode, and the two apologized for laughing at the joke. But the damage has already been done.

Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, blasted “leftist podcasters” and others who laugh about political assassination “beyond disgusting” in an X post Sunday.

When an outraged social media user told his followers to boycott Cash App for sponsoring “these rotten women,” the peer-to-peer payment platform wrote on X Friday, “We do not condone violence of any kind, and we are no longer sponsors of this podcast.”

Pet brand Chewy announced Saturday that it currently has no ties to the podcast.

“We do not sponsor or support the ‘I’ve Had It’ podcast. We unequivocally condemn violence in all forms. The comments made by the hosts do not reflect Chewy’s values or what we stand for as a company,” Chewy wrote on X.

Eyewear brand Zenni also announced that it “does not condone violence of any type.”

“We have canceled advertising on I’ve Had It and are reviewing our podcast placements against our brand safety standards,” Zenni wrote on X.

Organic bedding brand Boll & Branch said it “does not currently advertise with the ‘I’ve Had It’ podcast and will not in the future.”

Kirk, the founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, was assassinated at age 31 during an outdoor event on a college campus in Utah in September 2025.

Both Republicans and Democrats condemned the assassination of Kirk, who was seen as a steward of Trump’s MAGA movement and even a potential presidential nominee in the future. Some critics made light of or even celebrated Kirk’s death, and they were swiftly rebuked.

Amid backlash for their response to a joke about Kirk’s assassination, Welch and Sullivan wrote on Instagram, “On Thursday’s show, we laughed at a joke about Charlie Kirk. It was an insensitive joke, and we should not have laughed. We regret it, and we apologize.”

“Whatever our political differences, there is nothing funny about gun violence. We’ve long supported common-sense gun safety reform,” the hosts said. “To that end, we’ve made a donation to Everytown for Gun Safety, the largest gun violence prevention organization in America. We’ll keep using our platforms to fight for the safety of all Americans.”