Vivian Jenna Wilson, the 21-year-old model and estranged daughter of Elon Musk, pushed back sharply against questions linking transgender people to the recent assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk while speaking backstage at New York Fashion Week.
Wilson, who made her runway debut this season and walked multiple shows, said she was "too f***ing tired to talk about coherently" when asked about the killing and the wave of public debate that followed. She disputed suggestions that transgender people should be broadly associated with violent acts and said such associations carry "real world consequences."
In the backstage interview, Wilson said she was feeling homesick and exhausted after four days of shows and heavy scheduling. She described fashion as a newly discovered passion and said she had "barely slept" while walking for designers including Prabal Gurung, Dauphinette and Chris Habana, and participating in an Alexis Bittar presentation that featured an all-trans cast and sashes referencing states accused of rolling back trans rights. One of the shows she appeared in was sponsored by Pornhub.
Wilson, who came out as a transgender woman in 2020 and has become an outspoken advocate for trans rights, said she receives threatening and "creepy" messages online but was skeptical of talk that transgender people are inherently violent. "Trans people are not mass murderers," she said. "It's a ridiculous... How do I fing phrase this?" She added, "I am a runway model — I am not going to shoot anyone with a gun, like, give me a fing break."
The comments came after Utah Gov. Spencer Cox confirmed that the man accused in Kirk's killing, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, was in a romantic relationship with his roommate, Lance Twiggs, who is transgender. Wilson questioned efforts to generalize about an entire community from the actions of individuals, saying she did not understand how "one plus one is equaling three."
Wilson has used social media to criticize policy proposals she views as discriminatory. She posted last week on Threads opposing reports that the Justice Department under the Trump administration had considered gun-control measures targeted at transgender people in the wake of an earlier school shooting in Minneapolis. That earlier attack, media reports said, involved a shooter who identified as transgender and who wrote in a journal that she was "tired of being trans." Wilson called proposals to single out trans people for new restrictions "discriminatory" and said they risked normalizing further anti-trans legislation.
Backstage at the fashion shows, Wilson drew visible admiration from fans and fellow models. She received loud applause on the catwalk during one appearance, in which she wore a chain-link dress and white stilettos, and was greeted by admirers who grabbed her arm and declared their support. Wilson said she is balancing modeling and activism but prefers to prioritize rest when she can: her immediate plans included sleeping, spending time with friends and playing the videogame League of Legends.
Wilson declined to dwell on threats of violence or to expand on political debates while backstage at a show, calling the line of questioning "weird" given the circumstances. She said she hopes to be known for more than her family name and public profile, though she acknowledged that publications have labeled her a trans icon — a label she said felt "so conceited." She reiterated opposition to blanket characterizations of transgender people and warned that vilification in conservative media and public discourse could have tangible harms for the community.
Her emergence on the runway this season marks a visible turn toward fashion for Wilson, who walked several high-profile shows in New York. As she continues modeling and speaking on trans rights, Wilson's comments highlight ongoing tensions in public discussion over free speech, identity and violence following the high-profile killing and the policy debates it has generated.