A self-described witch who says she was commissioned through Etsy to place a “curse” on conservative activist Charlie Kirk days before he was shot dead has expressed regret and offered to speak privately with his widow, Erika Kirk, as the fallout from a satirical Jezebel article reverberates beyond the killing and into disputes over online harassment, faith and intent. Identifying herself as “Priestess Lilin,” the practitioner told the Daily Mail—according to an account first reported by The Independent—that “we regret any distress experienced,” adding: “What we do is done based on an impartial perspective and at a professional level. We respect the widow’s feelings and welcome a private conversation to address her concerns.” The remarks are the first on-the-record message directed to Erika since the shooting and follow days of criticism aimed at the Jezebel piece that described buying hexes for publication two days before Kirk’s death.
Kirk, 31, the founder of Turning Point USA, was fatally shot in the neck on 10 September while speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, during a campus event that drew thousands. Authorities arrested 22-year-old Tyler Robinson after a 33-hour manhunt; prosecutors have charged him with aggravated murder and other felonies and said in court filings that Robinson left a note laying out his plan and later described the attack in messages. Robinson is being held without bail pending further proceedings. Officials have not linked the Jezebel article or any purported curses to the crime, and investigators continue to focus on evidence surrounding the suspect’s movements, planning and motive.
The Jezebel article, published on 8 September under the headline “We Paid Some Etsy Witches to Curse Charlie Kirk,” described the author commissioning multiple spell-casters to “punish” the right-wing figure for what the piece called “years of regressive rhetoric.” After the shooting, Jezebel appended an editor’s note condemning the violence and later removed the byline; industry outlets recorded the changes and noted that the story stated the author was “not calling on dark forces to cause him harm.” The backlash, however, accelerated once news broke of Kirk’s killing, turning the essay—intended, editors said, as caustic commentary on internet culture—into a flashpoint over taste, ethics and the boundaries of satire aimed at a named individual.
The Independent’s report on Monday said someone styling herself “Priestess Lilin” responded to the controversy by signaling contrition for distress caused and by asking for a private channel with the family. The outlet quoted the practitioner as saying, “Our spells are spiritual in nature and we do not perform actions that are intended to cause physical harm,” a formulation intended to draw a line between ritual and violence while acknowledging the sensitivities of a widow whose husband was targeted and killed. Yahoo and AOL carried the same statements in briefings that summarized the sequence—Jezebel’s commission, the shooting, and a subsequent appeal from the practitioner to speak to Erika.
The widow has not publicly addressed the message. In the days after the assassination, Erika Kirk delivered an emotional memorial address in Arizona in which she invoked Christian doctrine and said of the accused gunman: “That young man … I forgive him,” explaining that it was “what Christ did, and it’s what Charlie would do.” The comments, delivered to a stadium audience and a national broadcast, were widely cited by supporters and detractors alike as emblematic of her response to the attack; they have since been credited by entertainment figures and faith leaders with inspiring personal acts of reconciliation.
Separate reporting has detailed how the Jezebel article unsettled the couple before the killing. On her SiriusXM program, Megyn Kelly said both Erika and Charlie “were rattled” after learning of the curses described in the piece and that they asked a priest to pray with them the night before the shooting. Newsweek summarized Kelly’s account and noted that the Jezebel author included a line stating, “I’m not calling on dark forces to cause him harm,” even as the work’s framing—paying self-identified witches to hex a living subject—became the object of fierce criticism after the death. Kelly called the article “vile” and urged an apology; Jezebel, which condemned the violence and edited the story, has not elaborated beyond its published note.
Law-enforcement agencies have continued to disclose details of the case against Robinson while avoiding speculation about external influences. Charging documents and courtroom statements reported by The Associated Press say the suspect left a written plan and discussed the shooting in messages, and officials have described a methodical approach that included accessing a rooftop overlooking the venue. A CBS News timeline placed Robinson’s arrest two days after the killing and cited authorities as saying he was taken into custody without incident following tips and family outreach. The Utah County Attorney has said aggravating factors—including an attack on a public figure engaged in protected speech—could support seeking the death penalty; formal decisions on capital charges rest with prosecutors.
The “curse” episode has nonetheless remained attached to the narrative around the assassination through the widow’s reaction and the practitioner’s reply. The Independent reported that “Priestess Lilin” sought to distinguish spiritual work from physical injury and to open a private dialogue with Erika, language calibrated to answer concerns raised by Kelly’s broadcast and by headlines that framed the Jezebel piece as a literal act against Kirk. The message’s appearance dovetailed with a wider tightening of commentary norms after the killing; several employers, including media organizations, moved against staff over remarks they deemed celebratory or insensitive in the immediate aftermath.
Variety’s coverage of Jezebel’s edits recorded the outlet’s condemnation of violence and the removal of the author’s byline. A Wall Street Journal live update similarly highlighted a passage in which the writer said the project did not seek physical harm, underscoring a distinction that editors emphasized but that critics said could not blunt the effect of targeting a named person with performative malice—especially one who had faced threats. Those accounts, along with Kelly’s broadcast, set the context in which the practitioner’s regrets and outreach to Erika have now landed.
Kirk’s widow has moved quickly to define her late husband’s legacy even as the criminal case proceeds. In addition to the public act of forgiveness, she has made appearances urging calm and pledging to continue his work with Turning Point USA, according to mainstream and conservative outlets that tracked the memorial and subsequent events. People magazine reported that actor Tim Allen posted publicly that Erika’s message “deeply affected” him and spurred him to forgive the drunk driver who killed his father decades ago, a sign of the cultural reach of the widow’s remarks beyond political circles. The emotional tenor of those reactions has contrasted with the harsher rhetoric aimed at Jezebel and the self-described witches, who have themselves become targets of online abuse since the shooting.
Utah officials, including Governor Spencer Cox, have used the case to warn against political escalation. In national interviews, Cox condemned the assassination and urged leaders and citizens to “stop shooting each other,” while calling out online narratives that frame civic disagreement as a form of warfare. The governor, who said the case “changed all of us,” has backed the investigation and echoed prosecutors’ statements about the seriousness of the charges. His administration’s messaging, while separate from the dispute over the Jezebel article, illustrates how the state is treating the killing as part of a broader pattern of politically tinged violence requiring restraint and vigilance.
What the practitioner’s message accomplishes beyond a gesture of contrition remains unclear. The Independent’s story attributes the outreach to a desire to reduce the widow’s distress and to explain that the rituals described were not intended to cause physical harm. It is not known whether Erika will accept a private conversation; her public appearances thus far have centered on grief, faith and a commitment to her late husband’s projects rather than on the details of the article that preceded his death. As of Monday evening, there was no response from the family or from Turning Point USA to the practitioner’s overture as reported.
The criminal timeline is more concrete. Robinson made his initial appearance by video and was ordered held without bail, with the Utah County Attorney citing aggravating circumstances. AP’s account of the charging hearing said prosecutors allege the suspect left a note and confessed in texts, while local and national outlets have described a methodical approach to the shooting, including rooftop positioning and a single, close-range shot to the neck from hundreds of feet away. CBS News’ running update set the arrest at two days after the attack. Those facts frame the prosecution’s case and sit apart from the online arguments over satire and spirituality that have flared in parallel.
Jezebel’s handling of the article has been documented by trade publications and mainstream outlets: publication on 8 September; the shooting on 10 September; an editor’s note condemning the violence and affirming that the site does not support political violence; and the removal of the byline. The Wall Street Journal’s live page quoted the line, “I’m not calling on dark forces to cause him harm,” from the original piece, a disclaimer that has since been repeated by those defending the article as satire and dismissed by critics who argue that intent is secondary to effect when lampooning a named figure. Those debates will likely persist irrespective of the ongoing criminal case.
For Erika, the messaging from the self-described witch arrives as she is being asked to lead and to comfort. At the memorial in Glendale, Arizona, she told mourners: “Our Savior said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ That young man … I forgive him,” a line that has become the reference point for her public stance. Whether she responds to the private invitation described by The Independent—or whether she chooses to ignore it—may never become public. The record as it stands shows a widow invoking mercy, a practitioner expressing regret and offering dialogue, and an investigation pressing forward on evidence gathered long before and after a campus crowd heard a single shot and saw a speaker collapse.
