Stephen King apologized Friday for claiming that the conservative activist Charlie Kirk “advocated stoning gays.” King made the initial assertion in a since-deleted social media post written after Kirk was shot and killed Sept. 10 at an event he was hosting at Utah Valley University.

“I apologize for saying Charlie Kirk advocated stoning gays. What he actually demonstrated was how some people cherry-pick Biblical passages,” the 77-year-old author wrote on the social media platform X.

The initial claim by King was in reference to comments that Kirk had made on his podcast in 2024, in which Kirk criticized children’s YouTube star Ms. Rachel for citing God’s wish for Christians to “love thy neighbor” in Leviticus, saying that should include gay people. Kirk responded, “By the way, Ms. Rachel, you might want to crack open that Bible of yours. In a lesser reference, part of the same part of scripture, in Leviticus 18, is that ‘thou shall lay with another man shall be stoned to death.’ Just saying.”

Stephen King; Charlie Kirk

King’s initial post received widespread backlash among conservatives, including from Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who called the author a “horrible, evil, twisted liar” in his response. King responded to Cruz’s comments with, “The horrible, evil, twisted liar apologizes. This is what I get for reading something on Twitter [without] fact-checking. Won’t happen again.”

King is a prolific presence on X, where he has been an active and vocal critic of President Trump. Kirk emerged as one of the most pivotal figures in the conservative movement over recent years, co-founding the nonprofit Turning Point USA and becoming an ally to Trump after advocating to mobilize the youth vote for the GOP nominee.

 

The author’s apology comes after President Trump appeared on Fox News Friday morning to announce that a suspect in the Kirk shooting had been taken into police custody. In a subsequent press conference, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox identified the suspect as Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old from Utah. The governor said that Robinson had indicated to a family friend that he was connected to the shooting, which led to his arrest.