After the assassination of Charlie Kirk on September 10, 2025, conservative podcaster Candace Owens has many conspiracy theories about the late Turning Point USA founder and his wife, Erika Kirk, and how they first met. She claimed on Wednesday that rapper Kanye West, now going by the name Ye, was involved in Charlie and Erika Kirk’s first meeting.
Charlie Kirk was assassinated while speaking at a Turning Point USA (TPUSA) event at Utah Valley University. Following his death, Erika took over as the CEO. Following the shooting, Owens, a former TPUSA member, started spreading conspiracy theories, including alleging Israeli intervention. She even pointed at TPUSA leadership, but she couldn’t provide proof in either instance.
Moreover, Owens had made claims about Erika’s past, including the circumstances surrounding her meeting with Charlie. She made a post on X, reading, “Today on the show: -When Erika Met Charlie: the untold story which involves—Kanye West?”
Today on the show:
-When Erika Met Charlie: the untold story which involves—Kanye West?
-What exactly was Erika doing for work in the most expensive city in the world? https://t.co/BJpfliCGcB
— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) March 18, 2026
“What exactly was Erika doing for work in the most expensive city in the world?,” Owens continued, while making it clear this would also be a talking point on the show. Meanwhile, she has previously alleged that Erika has a link to the late convicted child s-x offender, Jeffrey Epstein. However, there is no evidence tying them together.
In a 2023 Instagram post, Erika revealed that she met Charlie in 2018 during what was to be a job interview. However, things changed course when he announced that he wished to date her. However, despite Owens’ claims, there is no evidence of Ye’s involvement in the process.
While it isn’t clear how Owens ties Ye, or Kanye as he was at that time, met with the Kirks. However, when curious people asked Elon Musk’s AI Grok about the link between the Kirks and Ye, the response was:
Kanye’s role in this saga stems from a 2018 meeting he had with Charlie Kirk and Candace Owens, footage of which was included in his 2025 documentary *In Whose Name?*—released after Kirk’s assassination. Kirk’s family called it disrespectful and profit-driven.
Meanwhile, Owens’ pod episode seems to include the old footage, as well as conservative-circle ties into her “untold story of how Erika (Kirk’s widow) met Charlie, plus her quick rise to CEO of Turning Point USA amid ongoing death conspiracies.”
Reportedly, Kirk met with Ye in 2018, and Owens was present at the meeting. Moreover, a clip of their interaction was revealed in the documentary, In Whose Name?. Allegedly, the meeting was mostly captured on an iPhone by Nico Ballesteros, who followed Ye for six years.
Moreover, the documentary allegedly shows Kirk mostly remaining silent while Ye and Owens spoke of their experience as Black public figures.
The documentary, In Whose Name?, was released nine days after Kirk was killed. At that time, Ballesteros told the New York Post, “It’s unfortunate, and may they rest in peace, but there are people in the film who are no longer here with us.”
