A comedian’s joke about Charlie Kirk struck a nerve with audiences over the weekend.

The joke was made by Saturday Night Live alum Pete Davidson during a three hour Netflix special, The Roast of Kevin Hart.

While streaming live from a Californian theatre, Davidson poked fun at comedian Tony Hinchcliffe.

“Tony Hinchcliffe’s here looking like both a child molester and the doll they give the child to show where he touched them,” he said.

Then Davidson made the joke about Kirk, who was fatally shot in September at a university campus in Utah, USA.

“Tony reminds me of Charlie Kirk, in that he’s definitely been on camera letting a guy unload in his throat,” he said.

When Davidson’s joke was met with groans from the audience, he said, “Oh, you don’t know me?”.

Kirk, founder of the conservative non-profit Turning Point USA, was speaking at an event when he was allegedly shot in the neck by Tyler Robinson, which was captured on video and shared online.

The comments about Kirk were addressed in the latest episode of the Charlie Kirk Show podcast.

The show’s executive producer Andrew Kolvet labelled the material as “distasteful”.

“It’s not that we don’t love humour and we can’t laugh along with actually funny jokes,” he said.

“This is about somebody who was murdered in really the most grotesque, public way imaginable, and he happens to be our close friend.

“I don’t think it was funny, and when I saw the clip this morning, my instinct was, I just cringed.

“For this particular moment...it just felt distasteful.”

Jimmy Kimmel Live! was pulled off air for six days in September after Kimmel made comments about the death of Kirk.

While on the microphone, Davidson also made jokes about Lizzo, Chelsea Handler, and Jeff Ross.

Other celebrities in attendance included Dwayne Johnson and Tom Brady.

Lifeline: 13 11 14.