Australian satirical publication The Chaser is facing backlash for an “offensive” and “tone deaf” post following the assassination of US conservative figure Charlie Kirk.
Kirk, a Donald Trump supporter and founder of the right-wing group Turning Point in 2012, was shot in the neck while speaking at a university in Utah on Wednesday afternoon, local time. He was 31.
In response to the incident, The Chaser published a satirical post titled, ‘R U OK? Day not going well at Turning Point’.
Turning Point is a right-wing organisation Kirk founded in 2012.
The spoof article included a parody email purportedly sent by a PR manager at Turning Point:
“As disgusting political violence continues to grow in America, one workplace manager at Turning Point has ended up with more than they bargained for when they sent around the generic ‘R U OK?’ email.
This after the tragic murder of commentator Charlie Kirk.
“I just wanted to check in on people for PR reasons,” they said, “I didn’t know what happened. Everyone started screaming at me about it.”
Turning Point reportedly began to question their views on gun control measures that could help stop any more tragedies like this occurring, but decided to stick to their guns after remembering that the shooting happened at a school.”
The post was shared on The Chaser’s official X account, drawing dozens of critical comments.
“So disrespectful … unfollowed,” one wrote.
“This is HORRIBLY inappropriate …” someone added.
“I’ve always enjoyed dark humour. This is objectively unfunny. Genuinely s**t. Not even edgy. Just lame. Not even ABC Comedy level. Your writers room is very weak. Call it a day,” Newsmax Australia broadcaster Daniel Lewkovitz wrote.
“Some of your stuff is funny. This is definitely not,” said another.
“Gross and vile. Not humour. Despicable post,” a fifth commented.
Founded in 1999 as a newspaper, The Chaser expanded into digital media over the years. Its original Sydney members, including Charles Firth and Dominic Knight, have appeared on ABC comedy programs, such as the Logie-winning CNNNN and The Chaser’s War on Everything.
More recently, Firth starred in and produced the ABC comedy series Optics, which aired in January 2025.
The group has a long history of boundary-pushing stunts. Many of their most controversial segments came from War on Everything, which ran from 2006 to 2009.
A 2009 sketch that made light of terminally-ill children led to a two-week suspension, and required apologies from both the ABC and The Chaser team.
That segment mocked charities including the Make-A-Wish Foundation, with the line, “Why go to any trouble, when they’re only going to die anyway?”
The Chaser first gained widespread attention in 2003 after publishing then-Prime Minister John Howard’s private phone number on its front page, in protest of his dismissal of anti-Iraq War demonstrators.
Images: X (formerly Twitter)
