UFC boss Dana White said he disagrees with conservatives and his allies in the White House calling for ‘cancel culture’ against liberals celebrating the death of Charlie Kirk.
White, a close supporter of Donald Trump, was asked whether any of his fighters could say anything on social media where ‘there’ve gotta be consequences.’
‘I’m a big believer in free speech, and unfortunately probably the most important speech to protect is hate speech,’ White said.
CBS News reporter Jon Wertheim then stated White wasn’t ‘a fan of cancel culture.’
‘No. I hate it. On both sides. It’s like all the stuff that’s goin’ on with Charlie right now- you know, these people are goin’ out and sayin’ stuff. And, you know, you’re seein’ people gettin’ fired or kicked out of school,’ he said.
White maintained his contempt for those who may celebrate Kirk’s death but he didn’t believe in ruining their lives.
‘I think you’re a disgusting human being if you’re celebrating the death of another human being but people make mistakes and people are gonna do dumb things. I don’t like trying to destroy people’s lives over doing something dumb,’ he said.
White joined a growing number of conservatives voicing alarm over an aggressive campaign to track down and expose liberals who posted vile comments about the slain conservative activist.
UFC boss Dana White said he disagrees with conservatives and his allies in the White House calling for ‘cancel culture’ against liberals celebrating the death of Charlie Kirk
White, who much like Kirk is a friend and supporter of Donald Trump, was asked whether any of his fighters could say anything on social media where ‘there’ve gotta’ be consequences’
Some even came to comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s defense after his long-running show was briefly taken off the air last week.
The 57-year-old host of Jimmy Kimmel Live falsely claimed in his monologue last week that accused assassin Tyler Robinson, 22, was a conservative.
He said that the United States ‘hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.’
However, investigators have laid out how the alleged gunman became radicalized with far-left ideologies and was dating his transgender roommate.
Kimmel’s remarks ultimately led Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brandon Carr to announce that he was considering an investigation into Kimmel and ABC, and soon after Nexstar Communications Group, announced it would no longer air Jimmy Kimmel Live! on its 23 ABC-affiliated stations.
ABC executives ultimately took emergency action, announcing that Kimmel’s show would be ‘preempted indefinitely.’
But conservative podcaster Tucker Carlson later noted that Kirk was a ‘free speech champion’ and that he hoped his murder would not be used as ‘leverage’ to bring hate speech laws to the United States.
He did not mention President Donald Trump specifically in his remarks, but went after Attorney General Pam Bondi for controversial remarks.
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson hit out at the Trump administration for using conservative commentator Charlie Kirk ‘s assassination to attack First Amendment rights
Carlson said Kirk would have ‘objected’ to such comments, suggesting Bondi ‘didn’t think it through and was not attempting to desecrate the memory of the person she was purporting to celebrate.’
‘This is the Attorney General of the United States, the chief law enforcement officer of the United States, telling you that there is this other category called “hate speech,”‘ Carlson noted.
‘And of course, the implication is that’s a crime. There’s no sentence that Charlie Kirk would have objected to more than that,’ he continued, calling a society with hate crime laws ‘the opposite of what he worked to build.’
Among the loudest critics is conservative commentator Raquel Debono, who took to Instagram to question whether the right’s efforts to get political opponents fired from their jobs are ‘Christian’ or even consistent with conservative values.
Debono argued that it was not – and warned that conservatives indulging in this kind of ‘cancel culture‘ were in fact betraying their own principles.
She was in part referring to conservative speaker Olivia Krolczyk who claims to have contacted more than 470 employers in the days since Kirk was killed.
The controversy has exposed a raw and growing divide within the conservative movement between those who believe the left should be fought using any available tactic, and those who believe mimicry of progressive ‘cancel culture’ undermines the moral authority of the right.
UFC Commissioner White also spoke on a podcast just days after Kirk died to share his reaction: ‘I just woke up, and my phone was blowing up. I was f***ing blown away.
‘I was actually surprised by how impacted my kids were. My kids used to watch him on social media.
‘My daughter, she’s 19, she’s in college, and she’s been just destroyed over this thing for the last couple days. You have to feel horrible for his family. It’s f***ing crazy’.
Kirk and White had previously been seen together back in August 2023 after the conservative commentator shared a photo of them side-by-side
A growing number of conservatives are voicing alarm over an aggressive campaign to track down and expose liberals who posted vile comments about slain activist Charlie Kirk
Kirk and White had previously been seen together back in August 2023 after the conservative commentator shared a photo of them side-by-side.
In the caption, he wrote: ‘Dana White is based, and he’s the best president of any sports league anywhere in the world. Honored he has our back’.
The UFC paid tribute to Kirk at their ‘UFC Noche’ event on Saturday night.
Trump and White, meanwhile, have enjoyed a close friendship for well over 20 years after the real estate mogul hosted two UFC events at his now-defunct Atlantic City casino in the early 2000s.
Over the past two decades White has repaid the American tycoon by remaining loyal to him throughout his various political campaigns, even speaking at several Republican National Conventions to endorse him as US president.
Trump also invited White to the onstage victory party following his election triumph last November, where the UFC chief launched into a victory speech.
Trump and White have been working together recently to plan a historic UFC fight card that will be hosted on the lawn of the White House.
‘The fight will happen on the South Lawn of the White House,’ the UFC chief confirmed during a guest appearance on Shannon Sharpe and Chad ‘Ochocinco’ Johnson’s Nightcap podcast.
‘Do you know what is probably the most bada** thing about that?’ he continued. ‘The fighters will actually walk from the Oval Office into the Octagon.’
White met with Trump at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue at the end of August to cement the details for the unique fight night, including the exclusive capacity for the event.
The UFC head honcho told CBS that ‘everybody wants to fight on the card’ that night.
