Candace Owens he suspects Erika Kirk and his mother, Lori Frantzve, for being social climbers.
Speaking in episode 2 of his documentary, Charlie’s bride, that dropped on Thursday, February 26, Owens said that Erika, 37, and Lori have long had aspirations of fame.
The podcast host, 36, suggested that Lori often encouraged Erika to work in the bedroom, even before Erika married the popular right-wing activist. Charlie Kirk. (Charlie was shot and killed at the University of Utah on September 10, 2025.)
“What people say to me is that she’s the person who’s always in Erika’s ear. She’s the type of person who tells her who to follow in every room. She knows who those people are, who Erika has to turn into immediately, what she’s going to say,” Owens said in the episode.
He continued, “I mean, one of them [Erika’s] Exes were very clear. She said to me, ‘I was warned by someone in the beauty industry that that girl will do anything to get to the top and her mother will do anything to help her get to the top.
Owens went on to say that outsiders suspected that Lori might be “in his ear” but he also suggested that Erika was actively involved in this as she had the same goals.
“She wanted Erika to be famous. But let’s not take Erika out of this. Erika really wanted to be famous. Nobody can deny that,” added Owens.
Owens also referred to Erika’s past relationships, including JT Massey. Erika and Massey, her boyfriend at the time, auditioned for the competition Amazing Race together in 2014.
Erika Kirk.
(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)“Tomorrow when we start seriously living Erika’s life, you’re going to see that she’s never dated a normal guy. “You see, like, she was going to be with someone else, she said, ‘Okay, she’s going to the NFL. She’s going to the MLB. We can be in the NFL. Amazing Race together.’”
Us Weekly has reached out to reps Erika Kirk and Lori Frantze for comment.
Erika took over as CEO of Turning Point after her husband, Charlie, was shot in the neck while speaking at an outdoor event on the campus of Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025. He was 31 years old. (A 22-year-old man was arrested in connection with the shooting on September 11, 2025, but has not yet been charged.)
Owens, former director of communications for Turning Point USA, has grown increasingly critical of Erika since Charlie’s death.
Candace Owens raises questions about Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, in her new multi-part book, Bride of Charlie, which explores Erika’s upbringing and background. “I will tell you my personal opinion and my experience about her. What scares me about Erika is not the fact that she lies, which we will show you. […]
In January, Owens leaked Erika’s audio, which was reportedly recorded two weeks after Charlie was shot and killed, and suggested that the widow was moving too quickly because of the loss.
“That’s moving very quickly to the acceptance stage now,” Owens told his viewers at the time. “We know that everyone cries differently. In my mind, I just thought he was going to be very upset.”
On her part, Erika shared a tribute to Charlie on her Instagram to commemorate her 37th birthday on February 20.
“I always loved celebrating you, and maybe because it showed how well you celebrated me. I loved growing old with you, the love of my life,” said Erika, who has a son and daughter with Charlie. “I used to wonder what our faces would look like with wrinkles. You always tell me that you hope I’ll keep my hair long even if we’re both gray and that I’ll always wear white (because it’s the color you like to wear the most).”
Erika added, “We’d laugh about how you’d still be going out on college campuses in the 80s, doing ‘Prove Me Wrong’ campus events because you love those students. Then we’d both start to get sad talking about our kids growing up and having their families. Life is full.”
