Pete Davidson sparks outrage with disturbing Charlie Kirk joke

Pete Davidson turned a celebrity roast into instant controversy after a brutal joke about late conservative commentator Charlie Kirk left parts of the audience stunned and social media sharply divided.

On May 10, during Netflix’s live-streamed The Roast of Kevin Hart at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, nearly every celebrity in the room became a target of comedian Pete Davidson.

Davidson, 32, fired shots at Kanye West, Kevin Hart, and several fellow comics, but his comments aimed at comedian Tony Hinchcliffe – and the unexpected Charlie Kirk reference attached to them – quickly overshadowed everything else from his set.

Charlie Kirk joke

Davidson has built much of his public image around unpredictable roast humor, and the atmosphere inside the arena already felt aggressive before he even reached the microphone. By the time he focused on Hinchcliffe, the tone shifted from playful to brutally personal.

“Tony Hinchcliffe’s here looking like both a child molester and the doll they give the child to show where he touched them,” Davidson said, per the Hollywood Reporter.

The room reacted instantly, but Davidson kept going.

“Tony reminds me of Charlie Kirk, in that he’s definitely been on camera letting a guy unload in his throat,” he said, referencing the TPUSA founder who was fatally shot in the throat in September 2025 during a speech at Utah Valley University.

Kirk’s death sparked widespread political outrage, especially after jokes and memes related to the shooting spread across social media in the days that followed.

Targets Kanye

The response inside the venue noticeably cooled after the remark landed, but Davidson appeared to lean into the uncomfortable reaction from the crowd.

“Oh, you don’t know me? Yeah. Yeah. Kill Tony! Please. Someone fu**ing kill Tony!” the former SNL star said, referencing Hinchcliffe’s hugely popular comedy podcast, Kill Tony.

The King of Staten Island star didn’t slow down from there.

As the set continued, Davidson pivoted toward Kanye West – now known as Ye – reviving the very public feud tied to his past relationship with Kim Kardashian.

“Tony, nothing you say tonight will hurt my feelings. I was in a beef with Kanye, so I’ve taken shots from better gay Nazis.”

Toasted Hart

After tearing through several celebrities in the room, Davidson eventually shifted his attention back to the man of the hour, turning Hart into the next target of the night’s brutal roast.

“What can you say about Kevin that hasn’t already been yelled out by a guy with Tourette’s at the BAFTAs?” Davidson joked during another segment of the roast.

Despite the relentless tone, Davidson ended his appearance on a more sincere note while speaking directly to Hart.

“I love you very much. You’ve always been super nice to me…You’re a very hardworking person, and when it’s all said and done, in the comedy world, it’s most important to be remembered.”

‘Absolutely disgusting’

Within minutes of the Netflix broadcast ending, clips from Davidson’s set spread across the internet, where reactions quickly turned into a heated debate over comedy, politics, and free speech.

“Absolutely disgusting. I will never watch anything he’s in again,” one viewer posted.

“There’s roasting, and then there’s using a roast to take a cheap political shot. Davidson chose the latter,” another wrote.

People are ‘way too sensitive’

Others pushed back against the criticism and argued the outrage was excessive for an event built entirely around offensive humor.

“He’s free to do so. And people can call him a d*** for doing it. That’s what’s great about this country,” one commenter responded.

A second user wrote, “If Donald Trump can celebrate the death of Rob Reiner, Pete’s joke is nothing to compare with.”

“It was a joke, get over it, Charlie should not be immune from anything. Anyone getting butt hurt about any jokes last night is a f*****,” a third person posted.