Tim Allen was inspired by Charlie Kirk's widow to finally forgive the man who killed his father: 'Deeply affected me'
- - Tim Allen was inspired by Charlie Kirk's widow to finally forgive the man who killed his father: 'Deeply affected me'
Lauren HuffSeptember 26, 2025 at 8:57 AM
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John Nacion/WireImage; Rebecca Noble/Bloomberg via Getty
Tim Allen; Erika Kirk
Tim Allen is learning to forgive.
The Shifting Gears star posted shared on social media how "deeply affected" he was by comments made by Charlie Kirk's widow, Erika, at the memorial service for her conservative activist husband over the weekend. So much so, Allen said he is finally able to forgive the man responsible for his father's death because of it.
"When Erika Kirk spoke the words on the man who killed her husband: 'That man… that young man… I forgive him.' That moment deeply affected me," Allen wrote in an X post on Thursday. "I have struggled for over 60 years to forgive the man who killed my Dad. I will say those words now as I type: 'I forgive the man who killed my father.'"
The comedian concluded his note, "Peace be with you all."
In November 1964, when Allen was just 11 years old, his father was killed in a car accident involving a drunk driver. The Home Improvement actor previously spoke about the lasting impact his dad's death had on him in a 2011 interview with 20/20 anchor Elizabeth Vargas.
In it, he revealed he'd had “a curious relationship with God” since his father died, questioning that maybe if he'd prayed harder or had been with his dad, if the outcome might have been different. “For years, I just did not like this idea of God, church,” he told Vargas at the time. “[I was] still a churchgoer, but constantly a cynic.”
But, eventually he changed his tune about his belief in a higher power. "Whoever built me, this is too much, too weird that it happened by accident," he said. "It didn’t happen by accident."
Michael Bezjian/WireImage
Tim Allen poses for portrait at the 44th Daytime Emmy Awards
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Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at 31 during a campus event at Utah Valley University earlier this month during the first stop of his America Comeback Tour. At a memorial service for the Turning Point USA founder on Sunday, Erika publicly forgave Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old who is accused of killing Charlie, saying in part that her husband "wanted to save young men, just like the one who took his life."
"Our Savior said, 'Father, forgive them, for they not know what they do.' That man, that young man … I forgive him," Erika said. "I forgive him because it was what Christ did, and it's what Charlie would do."
Next up for Allen is a Home Improvement reunion. Fellow series alums Patricia Richardson, Richard Karn, and Debbe Dunning are set to make a special guest appearance on the season 2 premiere of Allen's current show, ABC's Shifting Gears, airing on Oct. 1.
on Entertainment Weekly
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