The actor says the fallout from her comments about Charlie Kirk created safety concerns
Amanda Seyfried has revealed she had to hire a bodyguard after facing intense backlash over comments she made following the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Speaking to British GQ, she reflected on the fallout that followed after she described Kirk as “hateful” shortly after he was fatally shot at a college speaking event in Utah last year.
Seyfried says what followed caught her completely off guard.
“I’m allowed to fucking voice my feelings,” she said. “And do it in a way that’s not unkind necessarily.”
She said the experience exposed what she sees as an increasingly hostile online environment, where public figures are often stripped of nuance the moment they express an opinion.
“There’s just an outsized fear and hatred and impulse to bash and to tear down,” she said.
“I experienced a very small fraction of that.”
The backlash became serious enough that Seyfried said she found herself travelling with security.
“All of a sudden I find myself with a fucking bodyguard at the airport and I’m like, ‘this is crazy.'”
After Seyfried posted that Kirk “was hateful,” many accused her of celebrating his death.
She later clarified that this was never her intention.
In an Instagram statement shared shortly after the controversy erupted. Seyfried said her criticism of Kirk’s rhetoric could exist alongside condemning the violence that ended his life.
“I can get angry about misogyny and racist rhetoric and ALSO very much agree that Charlie Kirk’s murder was absolutely disturbing and deplorable in every way imaginable,” she wrote.
Months later, speaking to Who What Wear, Seyfried made it clear she wasn’t backing away from her original assessment of Kirk.
“I’m not fucking apologizing,” she said.
“What I said was pretty damn factual, and I’m free to have an opinion.”
In her latest interview, Seyfried broadened the conversation beyond her own experience. Saying she worries about what increasingly hostile public discourse means for younger generations.
“I want my kids to be able to feel safe to voice their opinions as long as they’re not harmful.” She said.
It’s easier than ever to speak directly to audiences, but that also means it’s easier than ever to anger them.
