In a surprising turn of events, Erika Kirk is set to meet Candace Owens in an effort to ease tensions and momentarily halt their public feud, as she copes with the loss of her husband, Charlie. Owens became a controversial figure among conservative circles after launching a series of damaging claims against Erika in the wake of Charlie’s tragic assassination in September. Last week, Erika appeared on Fox News, condemning the ‘evil’ conspiracy theorists who are exploiting her husband’s death online. Though she didn’t mention Owens by name, it was her first public response to the swirling rumors. Now, after weeks of heated exchanges, Erika has openly addressed Owens’ allegations through a statement on X, announcing their plans for a face-to-face meeting. “Candace Owens and I will meet for a private discussion on Monday, December 15,” she stated. “We have agreed to pause any public discussions, livestreams, and tweets until after this meeting. I am hopeful for a constructive conversation.”

Following Erika’s announcement, Owens took to X, stating she is “looking forward” to their discussion. However, Owens also accused Erika of ‘hypocrisy’ for seeking privacy for her family while appearing on national television. “This is going to be read as Meghan Markle syndrome,” Owens remarked, referencing criticism directed at the Duchess of Sussex for participating in high-profile interviews while decrying media intrusion. Initially, Owens said she had been hesitating to respond as she was uncertain about Erika’s intentions, but she criticized Erika’s TV appearance as misguided. “The good news is she’s now clarifying her intentions with this major political organization,” Owens concluded.

Charlie Kirk was tragically assassinated during a Turning Point event at Utah Valley University on September 10. Tyler Robinson, 22, has been charged with murder, accused of firing from a rooftop during Kirk’s speech. Prosecutors allege Robinson confessed to his roommate via text messages, expressing his frustration with Kirk’s ‘hatred’ and revealing his week-long plan to carry out the attack. FBI Director Kash Patel has dismissed any links to Turning Point USA or foreign entities, finding no evidence of broader conspiracy. Owens, a former friend of Charlie Kirk, has suggested that the organization holds some responsibility for his death, while steering clear of implicating Erika. Once a prominent speaker and communications director for TPUSA, Owens parted ways with the organization in 2020 amid disagreements over her increasingly controversial views.

But Owens is spearheading some of the most viral and incendiary content about Kirk’s death, including claims that staff at Turning Point USA ‘betrayed’ their boss. She rakes in up to nine million views on daily podcast episodes, which are broadcast on YouTube, airing the spurious theories. The escalating attacks on Erika come as Charlie’s widow is stepping more publicly into her role as the Turning Point USA chief executive – the job she inherited after her husband’s death. In one episode earlier this month Owens said the late conservative commentator was ‘in love’ with another woman before marrying his wife, Erika. Many viewed that moment as a slight toward Erika, a frequent target of her attacks. Owens said she ‘missed’ Kirk’s bachelor days and recalled how she served as his ‘wing-woman’, mentioning one date on which he was especially smitten. She showed a text exchange with Kirk sent as he was preparing to take out the mystery woman, saying it was ‘one of my favorite text messages between me and Charlie when he was getting ready to go on a date.’ ‘He didn’t date many people and he was just kind of in love with this girl,’ she added.

The texts showed Kirk asking Owens if he should change out of a Turning Point USA-branded shirt before his date, to which she responded: ‘Yes, and throw it away if you can. It’s so sweet,’ Owens continued in her podcast monologue. ‘He was so young.’ Last week, Erika appeared on Fox to promote Charlie’s final book, Stop, in the Name of God: Why Honoring the Sabbath Will Transform Your Life. ‘Come after me, call me names, I don’t care. Call me what you want, go down that rabbit hole, whatever,’ Erika said, not mentioning Owens by name. ‘But… when you go after the people that I love and you’re making hundreds of thousands of dollars every single episode going after the people that I love because somehow they’re in on this? No.’ The attacks on TPUSA and Erika have only grown more sickening, including insinuations that they were somehow involved in the killing.

Owens’s theories have evolved from TPUSA ‘betrayal’ claims to implicating Israel, French paratroopers, Egyptian military and alleged security lapses – often based on anonymous sources or unverified claims. Last Wednesday, Owens made one of her most outrageous claims yet over Kirk’s assassination, implying that the US military was responsible. ‘It feels like today will be the day that the government can no longer deny it,’ she wrote on her Instagram story. ‘Charlie Kirk was assassinated and our military was involved. I can’t wait to share this information with you guys today.’ Erika has not directly countered Owens’s claims about her, but the producer of Kirk’s show, Blake Neff, has rebutted them, saying that the tirades are ‘not funny and not insignificant.’ The Trump administration waded into the controversy last week after Owens’s recent tirades against Turning Point USA and insinuations that the group was involved in Kirk’s assassination. Her massive listener base allows her podcast to charge premium advertising rates, generating up to $10 million in annual revenue, according to Fortune magazine.

Owens’s episodes on the topic have fueled her podcast’s No 1 global ranking across platforms, but they have also deepened divisions in conservative circles, with critics including TPUSA itself accusing her of profiting from tragedy. Despite this, only one advertiser has pulled out in the past year, with nearly 60 sponsors now on board according to Bloomberg. The controversy has escalated in recent days, with the Trump administration intervening to clear TPUSA of financial misconduct allegations. It came after Owens told her audience: ‘I am making a personal plea to every well-meaning person who donated to this God-forsaken organization to request a refund.’ In another video, she claimed that TPUSA missed tax-filing deadlines and alleged that $8.5 million in company funds were improperly used. The Treasury Department sent a private letter to Erika reassuring the CEO that Turning Point is not being probed, according to CBS News.

Erika Kirk now oversees the massive TPUSA organization, which caters to conservative students and boasts 3,500 high school chapters, approximately 900 college chapters and over 250,000 members nationwide. Owens has been using her platform to bash the conservative student group to her over 30 million followers across social media – and the folks at TPUSA have been listening. TPUSA and Erika Kirk have close ties to Donald Trump, who was a big supporter of Charlie’s conservative grassroots movement, which he credited with helping him win the youth vote in the 2024 presidential election. Kirk had built Turning Point USA into one of the most influential conservative youth organizations in America, known for its campus activism and annual conferences that drew thousands of young conservatives. After his death, Erika publicly delivered a statement vowing to carry on his work as the new CEO of the organization.

Trump memorably eulogized Kirk at his memorial service days later and comforted Erika who mourned the loss of her husband. ‘We know the weight of this monumental loss is almost unbearable,’ he said. ‘But even in the midst of heartache and pain too great to even fathom, you have somehow found the strength and deep faith to be a comfort to millions and millions of people.’ More than 60,000 people attended the service which was held at State Farm Stadium, which hosts the Arizona Cardinals NFL team.