Social media personality Hannah Brown was at the center of a heated cultural and political furor after attending memorial of right-wing activist and commentator Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated earlier this month.
After her appearance on TV, Brown lost over 100,000 followers from her social media pages, causing massive reactions and furious online debates.
Brown responded by releasing a taped statement on Tuesday after directly addressing her own critics and attempting to explain herself.
Hannah Brown Spills All
In nearly-five-minute-long footage, Brown was firm that going was not political:
“First of all, I am not MAGA. I was not at a MAGA rally. I went to a memorial for Charlie Kirk. A man who was brutally assassinated in front of thousands of people. A man who has a wife and children who will never get to see him again. And despite our differing beliefs, a man who did not deserve to die.”
Brown explained that she was not only distressed by Kirk’s death but by all the celebrating that was going on social media:
“I was so disturbed last Wednesday when I opened TikTok and had to watch the video of him being assassinated. And even more disturbed when I opened the comments and all of them were celebrating and rejoicing his death.”
Brown dismissed allegations that going was a sign of endorsement for Kirk’s politics when she stated it was due to “basic human compassion” She said:
“Whether or not you agree with his political beliefs is so irrelevant. Because truly, if you are against gun violence… you cannot celebrate when someone you don’t like gets shot. You are a hypocrite.”
She finished her posting by declaring a religious endorsement and thanksgiving to her loyal fans:
“Jesus is king. And thank you so much. To everyone that is still supporting me and defending me, I love you so much, and I appreciate you. And for the people who are attacking me or unfollowing me, I love you, too.”
@.hannahbrown john 15:18
♬ original sound – Hannah Brown
Social Media Pushback
In spite of her explanation, social media users remained outraged. Some mentioned Kirk’s record of inflammatory rhetoric, often aimed at marginalized peoples, and questioned why Brown would pay her respects to him over victims of comparable violence among oppressed peoples.
One Twitter user wrote:
“See, the point is it’s not such a big deal to people like Hannah, because they’re not brown or black. Kirk spewed racist rhetoric and outright lies toward minorities, and you expect me to feel some sort of compassion when he would have spit on my grave? No thx.”
Someone else contributed:
“White woman trying to lecture me about when it’s appropriate to feel sorry for a man that wanted me dead…”
Others joked about her choice, commenting that she was purportedly driving 13 hours to get there:
“So you spent 13 HOURS driving to hear the eulogy of someone you never met, don’t agree with, and don’t listen to.”
Even more accused her of selective empathy:
“K your reposts? Also u was this annoyed u saw videos of some white dude dying yet don’t gaf about videos of Palestinian children getting bombed? I never once saw u posting about some fundraiser or gun control. You put your energy where u wanted. We happened to notice it though.”
