Jamie Lee Curtis Responds to Backlash: ‘It Was a Mistranslation’
Jamie Lee Curtis clarifies backlash, says her words were mistranslated. [Image Source: YIMG]
Jamie Lee Curtis has spoken out to clarify the backlash following her emotional response to the assassination of Charlie Kirk, emphasizing that her comments were widely misunderstood. The actress insisted that her tearful words focused on Kirk’s faith rather than his political views during an interview recorded shortly after his death on September 10 at Utah Valley University.
Her statement on the WTF with Marc Maron podcast came two days after the 31-year-old conservative media figure and Turning Point USA founder was fatally shot in front of a crowd. Though Curtis expressed deep disagreement with Kirk’s beliefs, she became visibly upset when discussing his passing, highlighting her complex feelings toward him despite their opposing views.
Clarifying Her Remarks Amid Controversy
Curtis acknowledged in an October 28 Variety interview that her comments were misconstrued by some as praise for Kirk’s political stances. Instead, she stressed that her intention was to speak about his spiritual life, not to endorse his ideologies. The actress said that many online critics “mistranslated” her message and accused her of excusing the controversial elements of Kirk’s views, particularly his opposition to transgender rights — a sensitive topic for Curtis, whose daughter Ruby is transgender.
She explained,
“An excerpt of it mistranslated what I was saying as I wished him well, like I was talking about him in a very positive way, which I wasn’t,”
Jamie Lee Curtis said,
Image of: Jamie Lee Curtis
“I was simply talking about his faith in God.”
Adding a touch of wordplay, Curtis remarked,
“So it was a mistranslation, which is a pun, but not.”
Reflecting on the Complexity of Holding Contradictory Views
Curtis used the response to her remarks to highlight what she sees as a troubling intolerance for complexity in today’s public discourse. She expressed frustration that society often demands rigid, binary positions instead of accepting nuanced or contradictory beliefs.
She said,
“In the binary world today, you cannot hold two ideas at the same time,”
elaborating,
“I cannot be Jewish and totally believe in Israel’s right to exist and at the same time reject the destruction of Gaza. You can’t say that, because you get vilified for having a mind that says, ‘I can hold both those thoughts. I can be contradictory in that way.’”
Commitment to Speaking Honestly Despite Backlash
As Curtis prepared to be honored at Variety’s Power of Women event in Los Angeles on October 29, she reaffirmed her intention to remain authentic and outspoken. She dismissed the idea of avoiding difficult topics to appease critics, insisting she cannot suppress her true self in public conversations.
She told Variety,
“If I was careful, I wouldn’t have told you any of what I just told you. I would have just said, ‘Hi, welcome. I baked you banana bread. Here’s my dog. Here’s my house, blah, blah, blah. What do you want to know?’ I can’t not be who I am in the moment I am.”
Jamie Lee Curtis’s backlash response sheds light on the challenges faced by public figures who attempt to address complex issues without being oversimplified or misinterpreted. Her experience underscores ongoing tensions around political polarization and the difficulty of embracing ambiguity in the current social climate.
