Joe Rogan said he was elk hunting when Charlie Kirk was killed, and now he’s fighting back against accusations that he flat out lied about it

Joe Rogan is dealing with accusations that he lied about where he was when conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated last September. The controversy started after Rogan, on a recent episode of his podcast, misremembered where he was when the news broke.

On a recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience, the 58-year-old was talking with entertainer Theo Von about the details surrounding Kirk’s murder. According to The Daily Mail, Rogan said he was away from his studio at the time, stating, “This was happening while I was out elk hunting. I was in Utah at the time. Hunting in the mountains.”

However, that statement directly contradicted a real-time reaction Rogan had during an episode featuring actor Charlie Sheen, where he visibly learned of Kirk’s death live on air. A user on X then spliced the two podcast clips together and posted them with the comment: “What a weird thing to lie about.”

Rogan’s memory mix-up sparked a much bigger debate about trust and public figures

The clip spread quickly, and criticism started piling up on social media. Early Saturday, Rogan responded on X, writing, “Honestly I just remembered it wrong. I was elk hunting when Jimmy Kimmel was getting people angry at him for joking about the assassination and blaming it on MAGA.” He added, “I would never ‘lie’ about that. I just had a dumb memory moment.”

Despite his explanation, many people were not convinced. With the podcast episode gathering over 1.6 million views by Saturday evening, comments kept coming in. One X user wrote, “Well now you kind of can’t believe anything he says. Once I catch you lying its [sic] over with. Damn joe why?” The political fallout from Kirk’s death has continued to generate strong reactions online, much like how the democratic response to political violence drew scrutiny.

Others went further, arguing the detail in his retelling was too specific to be a simple mistake. “He created an entire story about elk hunting and starlink etc and went off for 2 minutes,” one X user wrote, arguing, “That’s not misremembering; that’s straight up lying.” Some even went back to the original Charlie Sheen episode to confirm the facts for themselves, with one YouTube user writing, “Just came by to see if I hallucinated Joe NOT elk hunting in Utah during Kirk’s assassination.”

Not everyone condemned him, though. Some defended Rogan, saying it was just a human error. “Maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t a lie,” one X user wrote, “Maybe he is human and can’t remember s— like the rest of us. Not everything is malicious.” Another pointed out the lack of motive, writing, “Why would Joe ‘lie’ about a moment when he was on camera, seen by millions of people? It was obviously a memory lapse, he’s almost 60.”

Charlie Kirk was killed on September 10 in Orem, Utah, during an outdoor debate event organized by Turning Point USA, the organization he founded. He was 31 years old. The accused killer, Tyler James Robinson, 22, is currently facing capital murder charges and a possible death sentence. 

His defense attorneys are arguing that federal investigators “were unable to identify the bullet recovered at autopsy to the rifle allegedly tied” to him. For a deeper look at the ballistic report weakening Robinson’s case, the legal details raise serious questions about the evidence.

Kirk’s death has also sparked political debate beyond the courtroom. Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs recently vetoed a bill that would have honored Kirk with memorial license plates. In her veto letter, she wrote, “Charlie Kirk’s assassination is tragic and a horrifying act of violence,” but explained she vetoed the bill because it “falls short of that standard by inserting politics into a function of government that should remain nonpartisan.”

 The bill had passed the Republican-controlled state Senate 16-2 and the state House 31-23, and would have directed $17 of a $25 license plate fee toward a fund that donates to organizations helping with voter registration at schools and colleges. State Senator Jake Hoffman, who sponsored the bill, called her decision “grotesque partisanship,” while Turning Point COO Tyler Bowyer posted on X, “Katie Hobbs wants you to forget about Charlie Kirk.”