Amanda Seyfried says she had to hire a bodyguard after she made controversial comment about Charlie Kirk

Following his death last year, Amanda Seyfried was under scrutiny for a comment she made about Charlie Kirk.

The right-wing activist was fatally shot on 10 September while speaking at a university event. And his murder sparked a divisive rhetoric.

On Instagram, a Reel pulled together some of Kirk’s controversial and arguably awful statements and Seyfried left a comment which made her feelings about them clear.

“He was hateful,” the Housemaid actor wrote. However, some interpreted this as her feelings about his murder, kicking off a huge backlash from his supporters.

And now Seyfried has said she ended up having to hire a bodyguard for safety.

She had posted a statement on Instagram closer to the time to clarify: “I can get angry about misogyny and racist rhetoric and ALSO very much agree that Charlie Kirk’s murder was absolutely disturbing and deplorable in every way imaginable.”

He had arguably problematic views. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

And doubled-down in an interview with Who What Wear as she said of the comment: “I’m not f**king apologising for that… what I said was pretty damn factual, and I’m free to have an opinion, of course.”

Months and months later now, Seyfried is still in disbelief over it all with her remarks still continued to be discussed and criticised.

In a new interview with British GQ yesterday (15 June), the Mamma Mia! actor said: “A, I’m allowed to f**king voice my feelings, and B, do it in a way that’s not unkind necessarily.

“But there’s just an outsized fear and hatred and impulse to bash and to tear down. And I experienced a very small fraction of that.”

Seyfried went on to say that she wants her kids to ‘feel safe to voice their opinions as long as they’re not harmful’. The star shares two children, Nina, nine, and Thomas, five, with husband Thomas Sadoski.

She wanted her kids to 'feel safe'. (Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images)

“So I’m like, ‘What do I do? What do I say?’” she continued.

“And then all of a sudden I find myself with a f**king bodyguard at the airport and I’m like, ‘This is crazy.’”

Back in December, Seyfried had said she was thankful for having social media because it gave her a chance to speak out on the backlash over her comment.

"Thank God for Instagram,” she told Who What Wear. I was able to give some clarity, and it was about getting my voice back because I felt like it had been stolen and recontextualised — which is what people do, of course."

The star said people were forgetting the ‘nuance of humanity’ as she got threatening and intense backlash for calling Kirk’s comments ‘hateful’.