Etsy Witch refers to self-identified witches who sell curses, hexes, and spells through the online marketplace Etsy, and to the September 2025 meme crediting them with Charlie Kirk's death.

Where did Etsy Witch come from?

The term grew out of a June 2015 Verge report on Etsy banning the sale of magical services and the ongoing presence of witch sellers on the platform afterwards.

What does Etsy Witch mean?

The literal meaning is a witch selling spells on Etsy; after September 2025, Urban Dictionary logged a secondary meaning of 'euphemism for an assassin,' specifically for political assassinations.

How do you use Etsy Witch?

Typical posts combine a screenshot of the Jezebel article or an Etsy spell listing with a reaction image, crediting the witches for a news outcome in a mock-sincere voice.

Is Etsy Witch still popular?

The meme peaked in the days after September 10, 2025, and Urban Dictionary logged it afterward as a political euphemism, so the term retains limited currency without ongoing viral posting.

What was the Jezebel Etsy Witch article?

On September 8, 2025, Jezebel published 'We Paid Some Etsy Witches to Curse Charlie Kirk' by Kylie Cheung, describing contracted spells against the Turning Point USA co-founder.

What is the 'Shit Your Pants Spell'?

It was one of the specific Etsy spells Kylie Cheung said she purchased against Charlie Kirk for the Jezebel article, alongside a 'MAKE EVERYONE HATE HIM' curse.

Did Etsy actually ban spells?

In June 2015 Etsy suspended shops selling spells under a policy that forbade services promising a physical or emotional outcome, though witches have continued listing on the site.

What happened to Charlie Kirk?

Charlie Kirk was fatally shot on September 10, 2025, during a presentation at Utah Valley University and died in the hospital that day.

Who posted the first viral Etsy Witch meme?

An early viral example was X user @lib_crusher's quote-tweet of the Jezebel article with a Brian Griffin shock reaction image, gathering over 55,000 likes in about two hours on September 10, 2025.

Etsy Witch

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Published October 16, 2026

Etsy Witch refers to self-identified witches who sell curses, hexes, and spells through the online marketplace Etsy, often working around the platform's 2015 ban on magical services1. The label shifted into meme territory in September 2025 after Jezebel published an article about paying Etsy witches to curse right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk two days before Kirk was fatally shot at Utah Valley University2. Within hours of the shooting, X users were sharing the Jezebel link with reaction images, joking that the hexes had actually landed4.

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Overview

Posts in this category typically combine a screenshot of the Jezebel article or an actual Etsy spell listing with a reaction image signaling shock, suspicion, or dark glee4. Humor runs on coincidence: a column published two days before Charlie Kirk was shot at Utah Valley University is reread as retroactive proof that the paid curses worked3. Captions often use a mock-sincere voice, with posters crediting unknown Etsy shop owners for an event known to have been carried out by a lone shooter4.

Behind the September 2025 joke sits a longer online subculture of paid witchcraft. The Verge reported in June 2015 that Etsy was emailing shop owners to suspend them for selling spells, hexes, potions, and crystals under a policy that forbade magical outcomes as a service while allowing tangible items1. Witches worked around the restriction by relabeling listings as readings or shipping a printout of the ritual, and witch-themed listings were still easy to find on Etsy as of Jezebel's reporting2. Writer Kylie Cheung singled out a 'Shit Your Pants Spell' and a 'MAKE EVERYONE HATE HIM' curse among the services she purchased for her Kirk experiment2.

Urban Dictionary later logged Etsy Witch as a euphemism for a political assassin, letting posters joke about violence by naming hexes instead6. Know Your Meme catalogued the format as both a joke template and a line of discourse about contract witchcraft5.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

Jezebel (catalyst article) / X (viral spread)

Date

2025

Etsy's 2015 crackdown on metaphysical services provided the backdrop for the meme a decade later. In the second week of June 2015, Etsy shop owners selling spells started receiving suspension emails citing an updated policy that forbade services promising a physical outcome such as weight loss or revenge, even when a tangible item was included in the order1. The Verge covered the ban on June 19, 2015, noting an active petition and more than 950 angry forum comments from affected sellers1. Witches still listed services around that policy throughout the following decade5.

Catalyst event, September 8, 2025: Jezebel published 'We Paid Some Etsy Witches to Curse Charlie Kirk,' by Kylie Cheung, who contracted multiple spells against the Turning Point USA co-founder, including the 'Shit Your Pants Spell' and a 'MAKE EVERYONE HATE HIM' curse2. Earliest known meme reaction, September 10, 2025: Kirk was fatally shot during a presentation at Utah Valley University and died in the hospital the same day3. Within hours, X users resurfaced the Jezebel link, and @lib_crusher's quote-tweet with a Brian Griffin shock reaction gathered more than 55,000 likes in around two hours of posting4.

How It Spread

Spread played out almost entirely on X in the hours and days after September 10, 2025. @lib_crusher's quote-tweet of the Jezebel article was an early circulation point, totaling more than 55,000 likes within about two hours of posting4. Other users circulated screenshots of specific spell titles from Jezebel's piece, including the 'Shit Your Pants Spell' and the 'MAKE EVERYONE HATE HIM' curse, posting them as if the shooting had proved the curses worked2.

Urban Dictionary later added an entry defining Etsy Witch as a 'euphemism for an assassin,' explicitly tied to political killings and the Kirk incident6. Know Your Meme catalogued the trend as both a reaction format and a line of discourse, placing the September 2025 posts alongside the decade-long undercurrent of paid online witchcraft on Etsy5. Specific additional fan posts beyond the @lib_crusher tweet are not archived in the available sources.

The meme operates in two directions at once. One direction treats the hexes as literally effective; the other winks at them as cover for darker political jokes about Kirk, whose rhetoric about women was a central target of Cheung's Jezebel piece2. Both strands drew on the pre-existing visibility of Etsy's witch marketplace, which The Verge had covered as a controversy years earlier1.

Timeline

2015-06-19

The Verge reports Etsy's ban on sale of spells, hexes, potions, and crystals; a petition against the ban gathers close to 4,000 signatures[1].

2025-09-08

Jezebel publishes 'We Paid Some Etsy Witches to Curse Charlie Kirk' by Kylie Cheung, detailing purchases including the 'Shit Your Pants Spell'[2].

2025-09-10

Charlie Kirk is fatally shot during a presentation at Utah Valley University; X users immediately resurface the Jezebel article as a joke[3].

2025-09-10

@lib_crusher posts a Brian Griffin shock reaction quote-tweet of the Jezebel article and gathers more than 55,000 likes within about two hours[4].

How to Use This Meme

Common posts take a screenshot of the Jezebel article or a specific Etsy spell listing and set it against a reaction image or quote-tweet styled as proof that the hexes worked4. Mock-sincere captions crediting unnamed witches are the dominant tone, often ending with a punchline naming the specific spell title that supposedly delivered the result2.