US VC pulls out of Oxford Union event over incoming president’s comments

A top US venture capitalist has pulled out of an event at the debating society Oxford Union after its president-elect appeared to have cheered the death of Charlie Kirk, a rightwing US free speech activist.  

Josh Wolfe, co-founder of VC firm Lux Capital, said he had withdrawn from the event after the Oxford Union’s next president George Abaraonye appeared to have said “let’s f**king go” in a leaked group chat message after Kirk was shot on Wednesday. 

In a post on X, Wolfe said he was invited to speak on tech and venture capitals at the Oxford Union, which he said was a “a historically prestigious venue”. 

He said he had withdrawn from the event “until cultural leadership from the top celebrates peace [and] coexistence [and] civil discourse [and] denounces violence”. 

His cancellation came after Abaraonye, who is also a student at Oxford University, received widespread condemnation from senior political figures including former prime minister Liz Truss, who called for the university’s chancellor William Hague to have him expelled from his studies. 

Kirk was a Trump supporter and social media influencer who debated liberal campus students in the US.

He was shot and killed on Wednesday during a public debate with students at Utah Valley University. Kirk’s murder suspect was on Friday named as 22 year old Tyler Robinson, who had been a student at nearby Utah State University.

Kirk also attended an event at the Oxford Union earlier this year. 

The debating society has had a long history of scandal, including in 2019 when a blind black student was “violently” dragged out of its debating chamber, an incident for which he was later paid compensation.

Several UK prime ministers and well-known politicians including Boris Johnson have been presidents of the society.