Jennifer Coolidge Faces Backlash After Fans Discover She Followed Charlie Kirk on Instagram

What was supposed to be a glamorous night at the Emmy Awards turned controversial for actress Jennifer Coolidge, after fans online noticed that the White Lotus star follows conservative figure Charlie Kirk on Instagram.

Coolidge, 64, who has long been celebrated as an LGBTQ icon for her role in HBO’s The White Lotus, appeared radiant on the red carpet Sunday night in Los Angeles. But her glitzy evening was quickly overshadowed by a wave of online criticism once screenshots revealed she was among Kirk’s Instagram followers. Kirk, 31, was assassinated last week while speaking at Utah Valley University.

The discovery came when an X user shared a screenshot of Coolidge’s follow list, showing Kirk’s name among them. The reaction from fans was swift:

• “I’m done with Jennifer Coolidge after this,” one user wrote.

• “Please tell me this isn’t real,” another begged.

• “The gays have lost another icon,” someone else commented.

For many of her LGBTQ supporters, the revelation felt like a betrayal. “Okay, this one hurts,” one fan posted, while another added: “She was funnier when I didn’t know she was a Charlie Kirk fan.”

Still, not everyone was critical. Some rushed to Coolidge’s defense, pointing out that she also follows prominent Democrats such as Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, and Jill Biden, suggesting her social media activity may not signal political allegiance. Others noted she’s been following Kirk for months—long before the Emmys.

“Following someone doesn’t equal support,” one fan wrote. “I follow people I disagree with just to see what they’re saying.” Another added: “She probably doesn’t even manage her own account—it’s her PR team.”

As of Monday morning, however, Coolidge no longer appeared to be following Kirk.

The uproar came alongside her appearance as a presenter at the Emmy Awards, where she leaned into her trademark humor with self-deprecating jokes about Ozempic and her past Emmy wins. Dressed in a striking black Christian Siriano gown, she told the audience:

“Winning isn’t all it’s cracked up to be… I think it might have been the worst thing that ever happened to me.”

She even joked about losing out on a group trip with fellow nominees and riffed about playing a “horny grandmother having a colonoscopy during a power outage” on HBO’s The Pitt.

Despite her sharp comedic timing, it was her social media habits—not her punchlines—that stole the spotlight this time.