8 hours ago
1
The Carolina Panthers fired one of their employees for a social media post made shortly after the death of conservative political commentator Charlie Kirk.
“The views expressed by our employees are their own and do not represent those of the Carolina Panthers,” the NFL franchise posted via X on Thursday, September 11. “We do not condone violence of any kind. We are taking this matter very seriously and have accordingly addressed it with the individual.”
The Charlotte Observer reported the fired employee was Charlie Rock, a football communications coordinator for the Panthers.
A few hours after Kirk was shot and killed during a speaking engagement at Utah Valley University on Wednesday, September 10, Rock posted: “Why are yall sad? Your man said it was worth it …”
The post referenced comments made by Kirk in 2023 when the political activist discussed his stance on gun rights.
“I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights,” Kirk said at the time.
Rock’s post spread quickly on conservative-leaning social media platforms, including the popular Mostly Peaceful Memes account on X.
“Hey @Panthers I hear this one of your employees in the Comms Department celebrating the assassination of Charlie Kirk,” the account wrote early Thursday morning. “Is this consistent with your organization’s values and policies?”
The team parted ways with Rock just hours later, according to the Observer.
Us Weekly has reached out to the Carolina Panthers for comment. Rock’s Instagram profile has since been deleted.
Rock was an intern for the Panthers’ communications department in 2024 and had recently been promoted to a full-time job in the same department, per the Observer. His LinkedIn account has also been deactivated since being terminated.
Rock’s firing mirrored that of MSNBC commentator Matthew Dowd, who was let go by the network after making on-air comments about Kirk on Wednesday.
Thank You!
You have successfully subscribed.
“He’s been one of the most divisive, especially divisive younger figures in this, who is constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech or sort of aimed at certain groups,” Dowd, 64, said during the network’s breaking news coverage of Kirk’s shooting. “And I always go back to, hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions. And I think that is the environment we are in.”
Dowd continued, “You can’t stop with these sort of awful thoughts you have and then saying these awful words and not expect awful actions to take place. And that’s the unfortunate environment we are in.”
MSNBC president Rebecca Kutler issued an apology for Dowd’s comments on Wednesday, calling them “inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable.”
English (US) ·