By Editor,Steve Helling

Copyright dailymail

When HGTV star Erin Napier got into a war of words over the assassination of Charlie Kirk, her two million Instagram followers had strong opinions.

So did her bosses, the Daily Mail can reveal.

Insiders have described how executives ‘cringed’ and ‘groaned’ at the Home Town host’s social media comments that sparked furious online backlash.

Woke fans accused the 40-year-old author and interior designer of refusing to ‘celebrate’ the conservative activist’s death when she wrote: ‘Only the demonized celebrate death.’

One of HGTV’s senior executives told the Daily Mail: ‘I saw it and just cringed.

‘I literally groaned out loud. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and she definitely has hers, but obviously that’s not what the network is.

‘HGTV wants to be a place that welcomes all viewers, regardless of their political views.’

Kirk, 31, was fatally shot in Utah on Wednesday. Hours later, Napier – who, alongside her husband, Ben, has built a small-town renovation empire in Mississippi – took to her Instagram story to share the pointed message.

She quickly followed up with a fiery post addressing the hostile responses.

‘I am revolted by some of the comments in my DMs,’ she wrote. ‘Unfollow me, immediately, if you could be one of those comments. Christ, have mercy on us all.’

The words sent shockwaves through the HGTV headquarters.

‘Erin is very opinionated,’ the network exec said. ‘And that’s her right to be. You can tell that she has strong opinions. But it doesn’t do anyone any good for her to get into flame wars online.’

Napier’s drama escalated even further on Friday, when she posted screenshots of specific messages from followers who were outraged by her stance.

She captioned the collection of images: ‘Because I will not celebrate murder.’

Kirk was killed during an outdoor debate at Utah Valley University on September 10.

He is survived by his wife Erika and their two young children: a three-year-old daughter and a one-year-old son.

Tyler Robinson, 22, has been arrested on suspicion of aggravated murder, obstruction of justice and other charges.

Napier’s post shows one follower threatened to toss Napier’s products, unfollow her across all platforms and stop watching her hit show.

Another message came from someone identifying as a psychiatrist, who accused her of supporting Kirk.

‘Really Erin? You are homeschooling your precious children in LAUREL, MS (of all places) to prevent something like this from happening to them,’ the user wrote.

‘This guy was ALL FOR IT. He died for what he believed in. God have mercy on his soul because I do not.’

The same follower quoted Kirk’s words after the 2023 Nashville school shooting, where he defended gun deaths as ‘a prudent deal’ for Second Amendment rights.

Outraged, Napier fired back: ‘You know nothing about why I am homeschooling my children, you sick goblin.’

The exchange caught the eyes of the network, who recently cancelled several underperforming shows to make room for more content from their marquee names, including the Napiers.

‘Having one of our biggest stars call a viewer a “sick goblin” in a public forum is something we are really trying to avoid,’ the executive told the Daily Mail. ‘That is not something we want to happen, because it will alienate our audience.’

‘We give a lot of leeway to our on-air talent, because we don’t believe that you can’t have opinions just because you have a show. But sure, there’s a part of us that just wants to tell our talent to stop talking about controversial topics and stick to renovating houses.