Charlie Kirk’s Mentor Jeff Webb Dead After Pickleball Accident

Jeff Webb, a cheerleading tycoon and conservative media mogul known for having influenced slain far-right activist Charlie Kirk, has died. He was 76.

Webb’s death was confirmed Friday in a short video shared on social media by Varsity Spirit, the company he founded.

“Jeff played a pivotal role in shaping cheerleading as it exists today and in building a community that has impacted generations of athletes, coaches, and teams,” a spokesperson for the Memphis, Tennessee-based company told the outlet Cheer! Daily in a statement, before adding: “We extend our condolences to Jeff’s family and loved ones, and to the many across the spirit community who were influenced by his work.”

While details surrounding Webb’s cause of death are scarce, the International Cheer Union said in a statement that he’d died “following complications after an accident.” Meanwhile, Varsity Spirit President Bill Seely clarified Webb had been taken off life support after suffering a severe head injury while playing pickleball.

Webb is survived by his wife, Gina Webb; son, Jeffrey Webb; and daughter, Caroline Webb Mason, as well as two grandchildren.

Turning Point USA, the conservative political organization founded by Kirk, on Saturday shared a tribute to Webb on X.

“A visionary who helped shape generations of young leaders and believed deeply in the power of community and country,” the group wrote. “A dear friend to Turning Point USA and Charlie. He will be greatly missed.”

A Texas native and one-time collegiate sideline cheerleader at the University of Oklahoma, Webb founded both Varsity Spirit and the Universal Cheerleading Association in 1974, when he was 24 years old.

A 2024 feature article published in the New York Times Magazine credited Webb with having “pioneered the gravity-defying acrobatics of modern cheer,” and pointed out that he’d helped bring cheerleading competitions to televisions across the U.S.

Outside of cheerleading, Webb was well established in conservative media circles and served as the co-publisher and chairman of Human Events, which has touted itself as former President Ronald Reagan’s favorite newspaper. In 2021, he published a book, “American Restoration: How to Unshackle the Great Middle Class,” and a year later, he purchased The Post Millennial, a right-wing news outlet.

It was through Webb’s media ties that he became an early mentor to Kirk, who was fatally shot during a Utah Valley University appearance in September 2025 at the age of 31.

About a month after Kirk’s death, Webb was among those in attendance at an October ceremony during which the activist was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Donald Trump.

In an interview with Real America’s Voice last year, Webb said the U.S. “lost a future president,” referring to Kirk.

“The one thing that I noticed early on was his ability to connect with young people,” he explained in a separate interview with One America News Network around the same time. “He went into these campuses before there was really a conservative group for these young people who were conservative to relate to. They certainly didn’t relate to the established Republican Party.”

Kirk’s “message” and “charisma,” Webb noted, gave his young followers “hope,” adding: “I think he set an incredible example for so many people.”