[Source: Entertainment Weekly]

“I came to understand that my comment hurt some folks and that hurt me so badly,” Chenoweth said in an emotional new interview with Spectrum News/NY1.

Kristin Chenoweth is breaking her silence after her viral comment about the death of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk made her not so popular among some of her fan base.

The Tony-winning actress, who has described herself as a “non-judgmental, liberal Christian” in the past, received criticism on social media for her Instagram comment following the Sept. 10 assassination of Kirk, in which she wrote, “I’m. So. Upset. Didn’t always agree but appreciated some perspectives. What a heartbreak. His young family. I know where he is now. Heaven. But still.”

Chenoweth addressed the comment Thursday in an interview with Spectrum News/NY1’s theater correspondent Frank DiLella.

DiLella brought up the Instagram comment, noting it had been met with “mixed reactions,” to which Chenoweth replied, “Mixed? You’re being kind.”

Then DiLella asked her, “You have a big LGBTQ+ fan base. You know, for members and allies in the LGBTQ+ community, Charlie was a controversial figure. He openly opposed same-sex marriage, trans rights. So I ask, what were you hoping to convey with that post?”

“I’m sorry if emotion gets involved here, forgive me,” she said, choking up. “I saw what happened online with my own eyes and I had a human moment of reflection right then. I came to understand that my comment hurt some folks and that hurt me so badly. I would never. It’s no secret that I’m a Christian, that I’m a person of faith. It’s also no secret that I am an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community and for some, that doesn’t go together. But for me, it always has and it always will.”

However, the comment in question wasn’t the only one made by Chenoweth in the wake of Kirk’s death that received backlash.

Following the assassination of Kirk, actress Selma Blair took to Instagram and wrote, “This incredible man. Who would go into the cauldron of indoctrination. And use logic to have dialogue. I am sick for his family. For all of us.”

Chenoweth replied to Blair, writing, “What you said Selma.”

Kirk, the Turning Point USA founder, conservative activist and media personality known for his viral “Prove Me Wrong” series, died after being shot during an event at Utah Valley University.

He was 31.

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