Jennifer Welch and Angie “Pumps” Sullivan of the popular left-wing podcast “I’ve Had It” apologized Saturday for laughing at an “insensitive” joke about Charlie Kirk on Thursday’s episode — a move that led to prominent advertisers like Chewy and Cash App to cut ties and set in motion a wider boycott led by Kirk’s supporters.
“On Thursday’s show, we laughed at a joke about Charlie Kirk. It was an insensitive joke, and we should not have laughed. We regret it, and we apologize,” a statement posted to the podcast’s Instagram page read. “Whatever our political differences, there is nothing funny about gun violence. We’ve long supported common-sense gun safety reform.
“To that end, we’ve made a donation to Everytown for Gun Safety, the largest gun violence prevention organization in America.”
The apology statement concluded: “We’ll keep using our platforms to fight for the safety of all Americans.”
Welch and Sullivan apologized as advertisers for their “I’ve Had It” podcast were pressured to cut ties with the program by devout fans of the late Kirk and his Turning Point USA. In the case of Chewy and Cash App, among several others, they’d already ended their support.
At the time of publication, advertisers like luggage brand Monos and wallet company Ridge played on the YouTube page amid calls for them to flee the partnership.
“We do not condone violence of any kind, and we are no longer sponsors of this podcast,” Cash App wrote on X. And Chewy went longer: “We do not sponsor or support the ‘I’ve Had It’ podcast. We unequivocally condemn violence in all forms. The comments made by the hosts do not reflect Chewy’s values or what we stand for as a company.”
The joke at hand, which has since been edited out of Thursday’s “I’ve Had It” episode, came about in a segment where Welch read social media jokes from listeners celebrating the Democrats’ midterm wins.
One user wrote in, “We’re digging up Charlie Kirk and doing it again,” which got an elongated round of stifled laughter from the hosts until Welch managed to get out, “No comment.”
“No comment — other than he was shot by somebody that was super MAGA family,” Sullivan added.
“He was shot by a MAGA person,” Welch agreed.
“Right, so do with that what you will,” Sullivan concluded.
Elsewhere in the podcast the hosts continued reading through an endless number of celebratory “woke” jokes (“You can’t even fathom the pronouns we’re going to invent. You can’t even pronounce them,” for instance). Kirk came up again when a user named Natalie Wynn wrote: “It seems we are not, in fact, Charlie Kirk,” nodding to the popular song about the conservative organizer.
Again, Welch responded through Sullivan’s hysterical laughter, “No comment.”
Supporters of the podcast flooded their Instagram post through the day Saturday.
“Let us know which sponsors dropped you so we can act accordingly. Since Charlie was a big free speech guy,” one fan wrote.
“You actually do not need to apologize. Charlie wouldn’t have,” wrote another.
