Tim Allen has opened up about a deeply personal moment of forgiveness, sharing that he’s finally let go of the resentment he’s carried for decades toward the man who caused his father’s death.
The 72-year-old Home Improvement star took to X on September 24 to explain how a heartfelt speech from Erika Kirk, the widow of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, moved him to this point.
In his post, Allen wrote, “When Erika Kirk spoke the words on the man who killed her husband: ‘That man… that young man… I forgive him.’ That moment deeply affected me.” He went on to admit, “I have struggled for over 60 years to forgive the man who killed my Dad. I will say those words now as I type: ‘I forgive the man who killed my father.’” Wrapping up with a simple wish: “Peace be with you all.”
Allen’s father, Gerald Dick, passed away in a tragic car accident back in November 1964. The family was heading home from a Colorado football game when a drunk driver swerved across Interstate 70, crossed the median, and crashed into their vehicle.
Allen, who was just 11 at the time and not in the car, has spoken about the profound impact this had on his life. In a 2006 appearance on Inside the Actors Studio, he described how it changed everything for him: “As many times as I’d relive this — if you haven’t had a death in your family, and I don’t suggest it — it certainly, it changes everything from your cells and DNA turns a different color. Every single thing in my life changed. I knew it the moment he was dead, and it was not for four hours that I found out. I knew the moment that I’ve hated November since then.”
He added that the event shaped who he became, even if he resented admitting it: “It was a startling event that took me, it’s made me everything that I am, which I hate to admit. It’s also made me very different, I felt, than my neighbors forever.” More recently, on an April episode of The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe, Allen reflected on the lingering pain, calling his dad the “love of my life” and a “great dad.”
This revelation from Allen comes shortly after Charlie Kirk’s memorial service on September 21 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The 31-year-old Turning Point USA founder was fatally shot on September 10 while speaking at Utah Valley University. Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old now held without bail in Utah County Jail, faces charges for the crime.
At the service, Erika Kirk, who shares two young children with Charlie—a daughter born in 2022 and a son in 2024—delivered a powerful message of forgiveness. “My husband, Charlie, he wanted to save young men, just like the one who took his life,” she said. Echoing biblical words, she continued, “Our Savior said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they not know what they do.’ That young man … I forgive him. I forgive him because it was what Christ did, and it’s what Charlie would do.” She emphasized, “The answer to hate is not hate. The answer we know from the gospel is love and always love. Love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us.”
In contrast, former President Donald Trump, who also spoke at the memorial, shared a more combative stance. He praised Charlie for not hating his opponents but admitted, “That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponent and I don’t want the best for them. I’m sorry, I am sorry, Erika.” He added that Erika and others might try to change his mind, but joked, “Charlie’s angry, looking down, he’s angry at me now.”