After Charlie Kirk’s death in September of 2025, and the “Epstein Files” prominence in U.S. politics after Jefferey Epstein’s death in prison, they almost immediately became subjects of jokes and criticism online. These subjects have only become more prominent as Charlie Kirk becomes applied as a martyr, sparking multiple “memorials” towards him by other political figures. This is in stark contrast to Epstein’s popularity and his dealings in illegal activity before his death.
It’s not a new concept for morbid events to be swept into meme culture, anyone who has spent time on the Internet has experienced similar jokes about widely covered tragedies in media, 9/11 being a massive standout even today. This consistent track of disastrous events in history being transformed into sources of jokes and images online are most likely small trauma responses when relating to recent news. The idea of political officials and well known figures being attacked and killed is frightening to the public, sparking some elements of panic and hysteria.
In an article by The BBC “Why do people tell sick jokes about tragedies?” they mention the prevalence of these jokes in the medical and law enforcement fields. In the article, it said “black comedy helps us make sense of occurrences that would otherwise be painful and upsetting. It’s normal to want to laugh in times of tragedy.”
These ideas can even be traced back farther than social media and modern technology with the use of largely demeaning names and jeers towards prominent political and social figures, some major examples being seen in political cartoons and unflattering depictions. These examples are often protests against forms of oppression or concepts championed by these people.
These opinions and actions towards political figures are still present today as it’s common for many groups on the internet to make public political statements on subjects they care about. In these situations, these jokes are in most scenarios mocking Charlie Kirk’s message and the actions by politicians following his death with the same being said for Epstein and others actions.
While these reactions are quite minor in comparison to other figures in the past, their deaths also create an aspect of hysteria that plays a key role in determining how people go about creating comedy surrounding them. These few days of panic followed by mental coping or aspects of “dark humor” move these events away from their difficult ideas of tragedies, to something that is less intrusive.
When asked about her thoughts on the environment around Epstein jokes, teacher Natalie Johnson said “I mean, some of the things that Epstein is being accused of, or the things that he is in trouble for. It’s so hard to say these things because he’s not alive anymore. He’s not facing the consequences. Or maybe because of the conspiracy fact of some people don’t know what’s truth and what’s fiction. So maybe that makes it easier to joke about, even though it’s not really joking matter.”
Natalie Johnson also noted a student who decided to tackle the idea in a recent project, as he attempted to take a more serious view. When asking about his approach, Bo Thompson Scott said, “It was difficult because it’s a rough subject for a lot of people, wanted to kind of work around the tough topics and look more at how he got caught and who did he know who might be affiliated.” Overall, Scott makes an important point regarding people’s relation with the issue, saying “I mean, that’s just what people do. there’s serious subjects going around, big news topic, like with Iran and all that. People try to make it lighthearted I think they, because they don’t really want to talk about what’s really going on. They want to joke about it.”
