'Am I Racist?' premiere: Matt Walsh, Ben Shapiro talk using comedy to challenge 'depressing' DEI culture
FRANKLIN, Tenn. — Conservative commentator and filmmaker Matt Walsh is no stranger to controversy, and with his latest venture, “Am I Racist?” he’s hoping to take the conversation to a new level with a weapon that knows no political boundaries: comedy.
The Daily Wire film, which satirizes diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, takes Walsh undercover to college campuses and corporate settings, confronting consultants and professionals in the DEI space.
Unlike Walsh’s previous project, “What Is a Woman?” which tackled the absurdity of the trans movement, "Am I Racist?" isn't confined to The Daily Wire’s streaming platform but marks the media company’s first original theatrical release.
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“This movie is a milestone,” Walsh told The Christian Post at the red carpet premiere of the film. “With 'What Is a Woman?' we had a huge success, but it was on The Daily Wire platform. It never hit theaters. This time, we’re competing in the cultural space that matters, in theaters. Nothing compares with having the box office scoreboard you can point to.”
“If you really want to compete in the culture, you have to be in places like this,” he added. “This is where it is. You can have success online, but it’s a different game when you’re in theaters. You’re reaching people beyond your core audience.”
In the Justin Folk-directed film, rated PG-13 (mostly for foul language), Walsh embarks on a self-described journey to understand how he can “absolve” himself of guilt and combat systemic racism as a white man. He earns a DEI certification, interviews DEI facilitators and average Americans, and effectively highlights the financial motivations driving the DEI industry.
“The most surprising thing wasn’t necessarily the young people,” Walsh shared. “We talked to a lot of these DEI grifters, and they were as fraudulent as I expected. What really struck me was the ordinary people who turn to them as moral authorities, people so lost that they look to someone like [White Fragility author] Robin DiAngelo for guidance.”
Walsh described the experience as both surprising and disheartening, underscoring what he sees as the broader cultural implications. “It’s depressing to see how many are caught up in this. But at the same time, it makes what we’re doing with this film even more important.”
Despite the film’s critique of DEI, Walsh stressed that “Am I Racist?” is not a political movie. “People might think of me as a conservative, and I am,” he said. “But this isn’t a movie for Republicans or Democrats. It’s comedy first. Comedy transcends political boundaries. If something is funny, it’s funny. That’s why we have it in theaters. Anyone can come and watch.”
When asked whether he feels hopeful about the future based on his experience creating the film, Walsh said that though he believes “sanity is starting to make a comeback," it’s a long process.
“It took a generation to get us to this point, and it’s going to take a generation to get us out. But I do see trends moving in the right direction,” he said.
The film’s executive producer, Dallas Sonnier, whose prior collaborations with Walsh include “What Is a Woman?” pointed to the challenges they faced in bringing the project to life.
"The scariest part of making this movie was not knowing, day to day, if we’d pull it off," he said. "We went undercover in hostile environments, but the most shocking part was that these people didn’t even realize they were being punked."
According to Sonnier, filmmakers like him have no choice but to create their own platforms; in Hollywood, he said, “You have to sell your soul in order to reach a level of success.” “Am I Racist?” he said, is the kind of film Hollywood would never allow him to make.
“They absolutely demand total conformity. So if you’re a maverick or a renegade, those days are over. They want corporate conformists that will be happy to do the movies that foster their agenda,” he explained.
“I felt so out of place in Hollywood when I was there that I sought out The Daily Wire to form a partnership so that I could keep making movies in a way that I really thought was the best way possible. And then they hooked me up with Matt Walsh on ‘What is a Woman?’ and the rest is history.”
The Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro told CP that "diversity, equity and inclusion are infused in every institution today” — and “Matt’s the perfect guy to tear it down, because he can make people laugh at something they’re told they aren’t allowed to laugh at anymore."
“It’s something we’ve lost on the right,” he said. “Everything is so serious all the time because we always feel we have to have sort of a rationalistic explanation of why things are bad or stupid, and what Matt does is something very different. He puts the thing in a spotlight, and he says, ‘Look at this, and it's OK. You're allowed to laugh at it.’ It's something that, frankly, I wish the conservatives did a little bit more of.”
The tone of the film has already drawn considerable attention, and Shapiro said he’s anticipating a strong reaction from critics. But he also stressed he’s not worried about blowback; he's focused on the broader cultural trends, particularly the growing backlash against DEI initiatives that are already losing favor.
"Major companies are disowning DEI, realizing it’s not just a waste of time but a waste of money, and it polarizes people," he noted. "The backlash is coming, and it’s going to come strong with the next generation. It’s not enough to just say, ‘Go read a book about DEI.’ Nobody’s going to do that. You actually have to provide something people want to engage with, something they can understand and consume easily.”
"We’re making movies people want to watch, not movies they feel obligated to sit through," he added. "You’ve already seen that with this. The pre-sales are awesome, and we’re hoping it’ll really break out this weekend."
Jeremy Boreing, co-founder and CEO of The Daily Wire, echoed Shapiro’s sentiments while emphasizing the gravity of the moment. He expressed confidence that the message of “Am I Racist?” will resonate with a growing audience disillusioned by current cultural trends.
"DEI is a grift, and it’s ruined countless lives over the past 50 years," he said. "The people advocating for DEI don’t even believe in it. It’s about power and money.”
Walsh, he added, is “the only person who could put himself in these uncomfortable situations, who could endure the absolute discomfort that comes from these strange moments and strange interviews, and never crack a smile.”
“People revealed themselves to him in a way that they would never reveal themselves to anyone else,” he said. “I think because this topic is so destructive and has been such a part of our lives for so long, it's time, it's time to expose it. It's time to do something about it, and comedy is an amazing tool for changing the way that people see the world.”
“Am I Racist?” hits theaters on Sept. 13.
