Slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk had a falling out with podcaster Candace Owens after her views became too extreme, according to a board member of Kirk’s political activist group.
Eric Bolling, the former Fox News host and media personality, told Patrick Bet David’s “PBD Podcast” this week that while Kirk and Owens were “tight” more than a decade ago through their work at Turning Point USA, they “had a break up” because her “theories got just a little bit too down the rabbit holes.”
“It was too extreme for [TPUSA’s] taste,” Bolling said, adding: “Charlie, to his credit, kept a cordial friendship with her for years, but it hasn’t been a communication pipeline between the two for many years.”
Bolling, who is a board member for TPUSA in addition to his duties as a host on cable news channel Newsmax, also said that Owens does not have a relationship with Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk.
Before Owens became a household name among right-leaning internet users, she served as TPUSA’s communications director from 2017 until 2019.
While she did not hold a formal position with TPUSA after her departure from the organization, she continued to appear at its events as a guest speaker as recently as 2024. Owens was also featured on TPUSA’s web site.
On the “PBD Podcast,” Bolling said he last saw Owens in person around 2015 or 2016.
When asked when was the last time Owens appeared at a TPUSA event, Bolling said: “Many years.” The Post has sought comment from Bolling.
Owens responded to The Post’s inquiry by alleging on X that The Post was “an outfit of the Mossad” and that billionaire hedge fund mogul Bill Ackman was using The Post as “attack dogs” to smear her.
She declined to address Bolling’s comments.
Bolling said on the podcast this week that he sided with Ackman after he was accused by Owens of staging a hostile “intervention” in which he and other pro-Israel influencers are alleged to have “hammered” the slain activist over his views on Israel.
According to Owens, Ackman was acting in concert with the Israeli government to “blackmail” Kirk and threaten him after he had expressed frustration over being labeled an antisemite for allowing libertarian standup comedian Dave Smith, a frequent critic of Israel, to appear at a TPUSA event.
Owens cited a report in Max Blumenthal’s news site Grayzone, which reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “had offered a to organize a massive infusion of pro-Israel money into TPUSA, and that Kirk refused.”
Netanyahu himself posted a video on Thursday denouncing insinuations that Israel played a role in Kirk’s assassination.
Ackman, who has categorically denied claims there was an intervention or blackmail, posted screenshots on Wednesday of phone texts he exchanged with Kirk in an effort to rebut Owens’ claims.
Bolling said he found nothing in Owens’ narrative that sounded like a threat.
“I don’t hear anything that’s a threat,” he told “PBD Podcast,” arguing her description didn’t square with what he knew of Ackman or Kirk.
The Post has sought comment from Ackman and TPUSA.
