The aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination has been very revealing.
Conservatives have long understood themselves scorned by leftists dominating mainstream media, Hollywood, education, and most major industries in the United States. But the cold-blooded murder of one of the most promising voices on the right inspired reactions that were unprecedented.
One unlikely place where Kirk’s assassination became a hot topic of conversation? Hollywood’s stunt community.
A stunt coordinator is responsible for designing, choreographing, and safely executing all stunt sequences in film and television, from fight scenes to high-risk action sequences. With people’s lives literally on the line, their jobs are no joke.
That’s what makes it especially chilling that several members of the stunt coordinator community were publicly celebrating Kirk’s assassination, seemingly without consequence.
Professional stunt coordinator Erik Audé told The Daily Wire that he’s being harassed and blacklisted by his colleagues for speaking out against this despicable behavior. While other stunt coordinators cheered Kirk’s death on social media, he fought back, commenting that their statements could, and should, lead to losing work and their reputations.
He mentioned a private Facebook page for the stunt community where most of these posts were circulating, pointing to popular stunt coordinator Andy Rusk as one of the biggest offenders who “really went out of his way” to smear Kirk’s legacy.
“This is deplorable. How did the assassin miss his big ass head?” a screenshot showing one of Rusk’s Facebook comments said.
“If you’re somebody who agrees with the awful stuff Charlie Kirk had to say about minorities, black women, gays, trans people, immigrants, etc… I can’t imagine how I could ever trust you on a movie set… People who share white supremacist and misogynist views have no place in our business,” another comment from Rusk said.
He wrote in a third comment, “The future is gay, black, female, and immigrant… and no matter how much CK and others like him punch down on those communities, they can’t stop it.”
Audé says he couldn’t believe the types of comments Rusk was willing to publish on Facebook.
“Rather than just saying, you know what, I didn’t like him and leaving it at that, he doubled down, tripled down. ‘I’m sorry, your friends are racist and [bigoted] and I don’t think I can hire conservatives.’ And that’s when I chimed in saying, ‘It’s funny that you think you’re gonna have a lot of jobs to offer people after your words get out there.’”
According to Audé, Rusk bragged that he couldn’t be canceled.
“Andy Rusk literally said, ‘Go ahead, try to cancel me. Many have tried and it’s never gonna happen.’ The stunt industry feels like they’re a bubble and that nothing can touch them. They think that they’re the only ones that can police themselves.”
What most shocked Audé most was the number of people taking Rusk’s side.
“He’s got over 260 people now, and these are all stunt professionals who are loving his post, who are in solidarity with him, who are definitely openly hating the left and Christians and conservatives and for sure Charlie Kirk,” he continued.
Audé said the page admin removed most of the offensive posts and updated the page rules to say no politics were allowed. But before that, he took screenshots of the most alarming posts.
“Sorry not sorry, Charlie. Karma,” a post from Bobby C. King, a stunt coordinator for both independent films and performer for major blockbusters like “Spiderman” (2002), wrote.
“F*** Charlie Kirk… 1 less,” Neal Chandler agreed.
“The guy was an open racist hate monger. The thing about hate, you can try to direct it, but you can’t […] control it. He was a product of his own demise. It is what it is,” actor Shaheed Malik wrote.
“F*** that racist b****. Is his wife available yet? She’s getting all the money from you right wing losers. I want to destroy each one of you!” stunt actor Troy Brenna chimed in.
Reached for comment, Malik said “Oh, I definitely stand by that.”
“When you do good, generally people don’t try to kill you,” Malik said, before adding “I am indifferent on the whole situation. Whoopdee friggin do.”
Rusk and King did not respond to requests for comment. Brenna could not be reached for comment.
It wasn’t all negative, however. He described how Eddie Conna, a former “far, far left liberal” who works as an actor and producer, spoke up against the vitriol. “I was very happy to see that he was actually standing up for [Kirk],” Audé noted.
It’s well-documented that A-list celebrities tend to lean left and aren’t afraid to spout political opinions. But among the crews working behind the scenes in the entertainment business, including the people building sets, rigging lights, and otherwise making productions run smoothly, politics are more likely to be mixed or even lean conservative.
Audé said the harassment became personal when he acknowledged knowing Kirk.
“I met him. We only had lunch one time, but we were friends. He always responded. He downloaded my book and I supported him. I’m a Christian. I’m a conservative. And I’ve always kind of kept my beliefs – I mean, I’ve been outspoken – but after this and seeing the open mockery and hatred and people laughing … just like my God, it’s no longer left and right, it’s evil and good.”
The fallout from voicing his views and his willingness to speak up online has already cost Audé work.
“I literally just lost a job that would have started working Sunday to Friday on a show out in Utah,” he said during a phone interview in late September.
“The assistant called me and said, ‘Erik, I’m sorry. I think this is messed up. But they were worried that people might have an issue with you being an open conservative, Charlie Kirk supporter on set.’ And I’m like what? When I get on set I keep my mouth shut. I do my job. I keep people safe. And if I work for people that I know think differently than me, I’m still there to keep them safe because that’s my job. And then here these guys are saying, well, I don’t think I can trust a conservative. Well, it’s not us hurting people. Your side is hurting people.”
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Audé says the stunt community is in a “full-on civil war” as leftist members continue saying “the most vile, disgusting stuff” without being held accountable.
He added: “It’s never been friendly to conservatives. But we’ve always been told to never talk politics…people can walk around set with [Black Lives Matter] on their face mask or rainbow stickers everywhere and Kamala support. But if I had the balls to walk around with a Trump hat, I’d be kicked off set that very second.”
Despite intimidation, Audé says Kirk’s death has woken people up, and he’s glad to be on the front lines.
“People are stepping up more…I’m getting a lot of support. Unfortunately the support comes in DMs and text messages…There needs to be more,” he said, adding that the leftists only feel emboldened because “they stupidly think that they are actually the majority when they are not.”
He also blasted the hypocrisy of accountability in Hollywood.
“I wouldn’t go around and openly mock Biden or Kamala if something bad happened to them because that’s still disgusting behavior. But for some reason it’s only one side that’s ever held accountable and that needs to change. Once this all gets out there, it’s gonna hopefully be a wake-up call that this isn’t okay.”
When asked what he hopes comes of exposing the harassment, Audé said, “I want everyone to see what’s happening over here because this is not okay. I don’t want these guys who think they’re untouchable to know that they are not untouchable. I want them to be held accountable for their words, and I hope they change.”
For Audé, it’s not about revenge but about justice. “Silence isn’t gonna get us through this. Even the smallest light shines bright in the darkest room….It really does because this can’t happen again. People need to start speaking up. I know a lot of people have been, but I still think it’s not enough.”
Audé also knows that coming forward with his story could mean he never works again in Hollywood. But he said he doesn’t care anymore. “Sacrificing my career, so be it. I wish I could have done more, I really do,” he told The Daily Wire.
“I’d rather be able to look at myself in the mirror and respect who I am…I’m pissed about all this,” Audé said. “He was the nicest one of us, and they killed him.”