Feb. 24, 2026Updated Feb. 25, 2026, 8:55 a.m. ET
Right-wing influencer Candace Owens is getting some blowback about her upcoming series about Erika Kirk, the wife of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Although Owens and Erika Kirk had a private meeting two months ago – supposedly to clear the air – Owens has continued to push conspiracy theories about the circumstances surrounding the killing of Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot at a Turning Point USA event in Utah on Sept. 10.
After his death, Erika Kirk took over as CEO of the conservative youth activist organization her husband founded in 2012.
Owens has continued to question the accuracy of the account of the days leading up to Kirk’s death, most recently in a letter to Erika Kirk, which she read on her podcast two weeks ago.
‘Bride of Charlie’ series to debut Feb. 25
On Feb. 24, Owens posted a teaser trailer on social media for the series “Bride of Charlie: An Investigative Series,” which is scheduled to premiere Feb. 25. The 1 minute, 42-second video begins with coverage of Kirk’s death. Then there’s video of Erika Kirk showing her actions as Turning Point USA’s CEO, followed by insinuations of some kind of coverup and references to Israel and “Zionists.”
It didn’t take long for backlash to hit online. TV personality Meghan McCain posted on X, calling the action, “Pure, unadulterated … evil. Who in God’s name would put a woman whose husband was brutally assassinated in front of the entire world through this? I am so upset by this, I am just so deeply sorry Erika and her family have to be put through this.”
Seth Dillion, the CEO of conservative news satire site The Babylon Bee, posted, “What would Charlie have to say about this?” in one post on X and retweeted Daily Wire founder Ben Shapiro’s post that “@RealCandaceO is evil.”
Erika Kirk will be one of President Donald Trump‘s guests at the State of the Union speech on Tuesday, Feb. 24, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s post on X.
Mike Snider is a national trending news reporter for USA TODAY. You can follow him on Threads, Bluesky, X and email him at mikegsnider & @mikegsnider.bsky.social & @mikesnider & msnider@usatoday.com.