Erika Kirk reveals outcome of marathon sit-down with Candace Owens as pair 'share intel'
Candace Owens and Erika Kirk claim tensions between them have thawed after an in-person meeting.
The two conservatives held a private sit-down after Owens spent months targeting Kirk with a series of damaging allegations about the September assassination of Erika's husband and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.
Owens wrote a lengthy statement to social media: 'Erika and I had an extremely productive four-and-a-half-hour meeting that I think we both feel should have taken place a lot earlier than it did.'
The former TPUSA communications director still admitted, however, that they still had issues to work out.
'We agreed much more than I had anticipated. Of course, we also disagreed on various points and people as well. Most importantly, we were able to share intel and clarify intent.'
She promised to offer an extended report on their discussions on her live stream on Tuesday.
'I will of course have a full rundown for you all tomorrow as I am currently exhausted, but I wanted to quickly let you guys know that absolutely nothing was held back and the immediate result was that tensions were thawed.'
Kirk's statement on the meeting was much more muted and low-key than Owens but agreed that it had been useful.
Candace Owens and Erika Kirk both called their long-awaited meeting 'productive' but remained in disagreement over certain issues
Kirk's statement on the meeting was much more muted and low key than Owens but agreed that it had been useful
'Had a very productive conversation with @RealCandaceO. More to come from both of us. Looking forward to AmFest this week. Time to get back to work.'
'AmFest' refers to the 2025 America Fest, Turning Point USA's annual conference, which is being held in Phoenix and will be co-headlined by Kirk and Vice President JD Vance.
The long-simmering tension between Owens and Kirk came to a head this past week with an appearance by Kirk on Fox News, calling out 'evil' conspiracy theorists profiting from her husband's murder online.
It was the first time Erika, who did not name Owens, had addressed the vitriolic claims.
On Wednesday night, Owens accused the widowed mother-of-two of 'hypocrisy' for asking for privacy for her family on national TV.
'This is going to be read as Meghan Markle syndrome,' Owens said. 'You want privacy when you want it, but you want publicity whenever you want it. That just doesn't work.'
The reference alludes to criticism aimed at the Duchess of Sussex for conducting high-profile interviews while complaining about media intrusion.
Owens began that show by claiming that she'd been 'waiting' to speak out as she 'wasn't sure about Erika'. But, she added, Erika's TV appearance 'completely missed the mark.'
'The good news is she's now unmurking the water with her intentions with this massive political organization,' Owens concluded.
Kirk was assassinated while speaking at a Turning Point event at Utah Valley University on September 10. Tyler Robinson, 22, has been charged with murder after allegedly firing from a rooftop during Kirk's speech.
Prosecutors say Robinson confessed via texts to his roommate, stating he 'had enough of [Kirk's] hatred' and planned the attack for about a week.
Owens, once a friend of Charlie's, has told her followers that the organization is somehow to blame for his assassination.
The political commentator was a prominent TPUSA speaker and director of communications until 2020 when she parted ways amid disagreements over her views going 'too down the rabbit holes.'
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.
Kirk (pictured right) was assassinated while speaking at a Turning Point event at UtahValley University on September 10
Tyler Robinson (pictured), 22, has been charged with murder after allegedly firing from a rooftop during Kirk's speech
In one episode earlier this month Owens said the late conservative commentator was 'in love' with another woman before marrying 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.
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
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
'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.'
Kirk and Owens maintained a close friendship for years during the early stages of Turning Point USA
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, who did not name Owens specifically, told Fox News last Wednesday: 'Come after me, call me names, I don't care. Call me what you want, go down that rabbit hole, whatever'
Erika 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 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, home of the NFL's Arizona Cardinals.
