Joe Rogan stunned mid-podcast by news of Charlie Kirk’s death: ‘It’s so scary and dangerous’

OREM, UTAH: Podcast host Joe Rogan was left visibly shaken after learning about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk while filming his show.

The 58-year-old was recording an episode with actor Charlie Sheen when news of Kirk’s death broke, leaving him nearly speechless as he tried to process the moment.

Joe Rogan learns about Charlie Kirk’s death live on air

Rogan held his head in distress as his production crew confirmed the shocking news.

“This just happened, we just found out Charlie Kirk was shot. Is he dead?” he asked.

“That’s f***ing awful,” Charlie Sheen responded. Rogan paused to collect himself before muttering, “Whoa!” into the microphone. As Sheen continued speaking, Rogan looked dazed, giving short replies like “yeah.”

“Murdered for having a different opinion from somebody else, different ideology from somebody else,” said Sheen. Rogan then asked his crew if a suspect had been identified.

Joe Rogan warns about celebration of violence

Rogan later reflected on the larger consequences of the killing.

“There’s going to be a lot of people celebrating this. It’s so scary. It’s so dangerous, too, to celebrate or in any way encourage this kind of behavior from human beings," he said.

"It’s not a violent guy. He’s talking to people on college campuses. Wasn’t even particularly rude, tried to be pretty reasonable with people,” he said. “He’s a very intelligent guy, whether you agree with him or don’t, and there’s a lot of stuff that I didn’t agree with him on. That’s fine. You’re allowed to disagree with people without celebrating the fact they got shot,” Rogan continued.

Calling it a “f****d up time,” Rogan said, “people have really fallen into this trap of us against them.”

Joe Rogan says Charlie Kirk’s death feels surreal

Rogan compared Charlie Kirk’s killing to past tragedies. “It seems very surreal. It seems like it’s going to take a long time before we reference this as something that happened... right now, it just doesn’t seem real,” he said. He also recalled meeting Kirk once at a gun range “of all places.”

"People are so divided in this country. So divided. And there are so many people that love it, they love that we’re divided, and they profit off of that division, and they stoke the fires,” Rogan added.

He then warned: “Either people are going to realize how f*****g insane this is. We have to have a conversation about being able to have conservations. Or it’s going to get a lot worse, that’s what’s scary. It’s scary this could spark off some kind of real violent conflict.”

Joe Rogan slams MSNBC coverage as FBI launches manhunt

Earlier in the show, Rogan criticized MSNBC’s live coverage, blasting analyst Matthew Dowd’s speculation. “What a crazy take — like it might not have been someone assassinating someone for the wrong opinion. F**k!” he said.

Dowd has since been dropped by the network, according to several outlets.

Charlie Kirk, 31, was shot in the neck while speaking to students at Utah Valley University. Just before the attack, he was asked how many mass shooters there had been in the past 10 years. “Counting or not counting gang violence?” he replied, before being shot less than a second later. 

The FBI has released a photo of the suspect and is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to the killer’s arrest. Officials confirmed they found a high-powered rifle in the woods but have yet to identify the shooter. The manhunt entered its second day. 

Kirk leaves behind his wife, Erika Frantzve, their three-year-old daughter, and a 16-month-old son. The couple had celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary in May.