Progressive podcaster Jennifer Welch appears to have lost millions of dollars in sponsorships after laughing at a joke about “digging up” the late Charlie Kirk and assassinating him again.
Welch, 53, and her co-host Angie Sullivan read the offensive post during Thursday’s episode of I’ve Had It, then laughed at it. The pair had been celebrating Democratic gains in the previous week’s midterm elections.
“We’re digging up Charlie Kirk and doing it again,” Welch said while quoting the post. The exchange quickly triggered condemnation from both sides of the political spectrum. The clip was later removed from the episode, and Welch and Sullivan issued a joint apology.
However, the fallout had already begun. Chewy, Cash App, and Casper were among the companies that ended their relationships with the podcast. Eyewear company Zenni, luggage brand NOBL Travel, and bedding company Boll & Branch also announced their departures on social media.
As more brands responded, conservative activist Sarah Fields assembled a list naming at least 19 companies that had distanced themselves from Welch and Sullivan over the 39-second segment.
Jennifer Sey, a former brand president at Levi’s, estimated in a social media post that the lost sponsorships could total approximately $7.6 million.
Sey explained that she reached the figure by assuming each company contributed at least $100,000 per quarter. She described that amount as “often a minimum for shows like this” and characterized her projection as “a low-ish estimate.”
When contacted Monday by Our News Outlet, Welch disputed Sey’s calculations while again expressing her “regret” over the comments.
Jennifer Welch, 53, and I’ve Had It cohost Angie Sullivan are losing sponsors at an alarming rate after laughing at a post that joked about ‘digging up’ Charlie Kirk last Thursday
More than a dozen companies, including Chewy and Cash App, distanced themselves from the podcast last week, citing the hosts’ demeanor and rhetoric
‘We laughed at an insensitive joke. We regret it, and we apologized,’ Welch said in an emailed statement. She added that her team ultimately ‘removed the segment from the episode because we oppose gun violence in all of its forms.’
‘Turning Point, the group leading the cancellation against us, mocks violence and never apologizes,’ Welch added, naming the group Kirk founded in 2012 when he was 18. He was 31 when he was killed.
‘The estimated numbers that Jennifer Sey is putting together are way off,’ Welch said. ‘We still have plenty of advertisers and we aren’t going anywhere.’
I’ve Had It boasts 1.8million subscribers on YouTube and 1.3million followers on Instagram.
Welch concluded by maintaining she and Sullivan will continue to ‘relentlessly fight for equality and justice for every American’ and ‘enthusiastically welcome the nearly 30,000 new followers that have come to our channel in the last few days.’
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She also said the podcast made a donation to gun control nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety ‘to put our money where our mouth is.’
The statement echoed her and Sullivan’s apology, which was posted to Instagram on Wednesday.
‘We’ll keep using our platforms to fight for the safety of all Americans,’ the statement read, in part.
Jennifer Sey, the former brand president of Levi’s, postulated that the lost partnerships would equate to roughly $7.6million in revenue
In a statement to Our News Outlet, Welch reiterated that she and Sullivan’s team had deleted the clip from the official episode and deplored gun violence
Kirk, seen here with wife Erika, died in September of last year after being assassinated in Utah
Kirk died in September of last year after being assassinated at a speaking event in Utah.
Welch asserted, without evidence, on Thursday that the 23-year-old currently in custody for the killing, Tyler Robinson, was a conservative.
‘He was shot by a MAGA person,’ Welch said of Kirk, adding of Utah native Robinson: ‘White person, White MAGA family.’
Robinson is not known to have espoused MAGA views. He was charged with seven alleged offenses, including aggravated murder, in September last year and pleaded not guilty to all of them. A date for the trial has not yet been determined.
Welch sparked outrage last year after accusing Vice President JD Vance of engaging in an amorous exchange with Kirk’s widow, Erika, when he hugged her on stage at her husband’s memorial.
‘Playing slap and tickle with Erika Kirk. It’s the weirdest s**t I’ve ever seen,’ she told Sullivan and former MSNBC star Joy Reid at the time.
A rep from Kirk’s Turning Point USA, Andrew Kolvet, called the three ‘deranged’ and ‘likely post-menopausal’ in response.
‘This is an insight into the spiritual core of the radical left: sneering, deriding, and jeering at the suffering of a widow because her slain husband was conservative,’ Kolvet said.
