White Fragility author Robin DiAngelo has broken her silence after falling for an embarrassing joke for Matt Walsh’s new anti-DEI film.
DiAngelo was tricked into paying reparations to the right-wing podcaster’s Black producer in a scene from Am I Racist? that appears to mock the white left’s approach to anti-racism activism.
The progressive author criticized Walsh in a long blog entrycalling the film a “Borat-style mockumentary” and saying he felt “something was wrong” when he saw Walsh wearing an “ill-fitting wig.”
She said the project was designed to humiliate and discredit anti-racist educators and activists and that she regretted taking part after being paid $15,000 for her time.
DiAngelo wrote: ‘In 2023, I was contacted by a group claiming to be making a documentary called ‘Shades of Justice’ about efforts to address racism in the United States…
White Fragility author Robin DiAngelo has broken her silence after falling for an embarrassing joke for Matt Walsh’s new anti-woke film
She said the project was designed to humiliate and discredit anti-racist educators and activists and that she regretted taking part after being paid $15,000 for her time.
‘I was offered between $10,000 and $20,000 for an interview. I said, “Let’s meet somewhere in the middle at $15,000,” and agreed to participate (I have since donated that sum to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund).’
He added: “After reviewing the sequence of events and discussing it with my colleagues, I realized that they had lied about their agenda and that they had misled me.”
The author rose to fame with her book White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism.
The author claimed everything seemed normal until “things got weird” when Walsh told her that if she supported reparations for black Americans, then she should give money to her black producer on the spot.
During the scene, DiAngelo took pleasure, without irony, saying: “On behalf of myself and my fellow white people, I apologize.”
She seemed wary at first, finding a personal payment for slavery “really weird,” but eventually joined in.
DiAngelo said she could “surely get some cash,” before walking across the room, pulling $30 out of her designer purse and handing it to Ben.
“The way Matt set everything up seemed designed to put Ben and me on the spot. Since Matt was putting pressure on us, I expressed my discomfort and asked Ben to make sure he was okay with taking money that way. Ben assured me he was, so I went to my wallet and handed him my money and the interview was over,” DiAngelo wrote.
DiAngelo said the scene left her “disturbed” and asked a producer not to use it because “this scene was not an example of reparation and could mislead viewers.”
The progressive author criticized Walsh in a lengthy blog post, calling the film a “Borat-style mockumentary.”
For his new documentary, Walsh posed as a rookie DEI consultant in a herringbone jacket and man bun.
The author rose to fame with her bestselling book White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism.
Walsh reached out to X to respond to DiAngelo’s statement, thanking her for her words.
The expert wrote: “Robin DiAngelo has issued a statement denouncing our film. She claims the film is “designed to humiliate and discredit anti-racist educators and activists.”
“I couldn’t be more right in that assessment. Thanks, Robin!”
The film’s scene featuring DiAngelo lasts a chilling nine minutes as Walsh walks DiAngelo through a series of increasingly absurd scenarios in the name of eradicating racism.
Through role-playing, DiAngelo is forced to humble himself for the sin of “smiling too much” at a minority coworker in an office hallway.
Am I Racist is produced by The Daily Wire and will be released in theaters on Friday, September 13.
The film is a show of contempt for the massive diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) industry that grew after the police killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, in Minneapolis in 2020.
