I LOST R500K DEAL

SOUTH African musician The Kiffness says he lost a R500 000 gig because he defended Charlie Kirk. 

The muso posted a picture of a letter addressed to him by an unnamed company, reading: “After careful consideration, we must inform you that we must terminate The Kiffness’ contract with [company name which was blanked out] effective immediately.

“This decision has been made in light of recent social media activity, which poses a reputational risk to both our agency and the client’s brand.

“We cannot continue an association that may be perceived as an endorsement of views inconsistent with our values or our client’s positioning.”

The artist captioned the post: “Just lost a R500k campaign because I defended Charlie Kirk. Worth it to be honest.” 

Advised by readers to name the company, he replied: “I don’t want vengeance. It was just to highlight how fickle brands are - if anything is deemed controversial they’re gone, which is why you’ll hardly hear any celebrities with brand deals speak out on important issues, especially if they depend on brand deals.” 

This follows after a string of posts following the shooting and killing of Kirk last week. 

The Kiffness wrote on X on September 11: “Some people are called to bigger missions. Charlie was no different to the apostle Paul. 

“God set him aside for a bigger mission. He went from University to University speaking the truth & winning hearts. He was on course to become the next President. 

“It was not to be, and as humans we will never understand, but we must just have faith that this was part of God's plan. His life on Earth will echo into Eternity. Every truth he spoke now carries more value & weight than it ever would had he still been with us. God is good.” 

He added the following day: “Liberal literally means ‘willing to respect opinions different from one's own’. Charlie Kirk debated his opponents with RESPECT - he embodied liberalism more than any self-proclaimed ‘liberal’ celebrating his death or those who disagree with them, the opposite of liberal…

“A Christian’s victory is won when they can lead souls that have gone astray into the light. A demon possessed person's victory is won when those Christians are killed. The only problem is, they don't understand that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” 

On September 13 he wrote: “Weird, the media keeps telling me Charlie Kirk was racist, homophobic & transphobic, but here I keep seeing first hand accounts of black people, gay & trans people saying he was one of the nicest people they've ever met. Who do I believe? So difficult.” 

Following the arrest of Tyler Robinson, who is suspected of shooting Kirk, The Kiffness wrote: “Tyler Robinson’s partner is trans. Charlie Kirk was talking about how there are too many trans shooters just before he got shot. 

“That is all you need to know. Anything else the media tries to sell you is a lie.”