Prominent “anti-racist” activist and author Robin DiAngelo is speaking out after being duped into appearing in Daily Wire commentator Matt Walsh’s new satirical film exposing the hypocrisy and absurdity of the diversity, equity and inclusion industry, which DiAngelo helped pioneer.
DiAngelo issued a statement explaining how Walsh’s representative contacted her under false pretenses and paid her $15,000 to sit for an interview. She later learned that she had been tricked into appearing in his new movie, Am I Racist? and paying “reparations” to his black producer, who was in on the joke.
“When I arrived for the interview, a few things felt off. The grips would not make eye contact with me and the interviewer, who was introduced as ‘Matt,’ appeared to be wearing an ill-fitting wig. Matt presented himself as someone new to antiracist work and seemed earnest, and his questions did not come across as adversarial. By the end, however, things got weird,” she wrote in a statement on her website.
In an awkward scene, Walsh convinces DiAngelo to give his black producer Ben $30 in “reparations” for past injustices committed by white people. DiAngelo suggested that Walsh put his producer on the spot and expressed her discomfort with how the exchanged played out.
“I was so unsettled by the way Matt manipulated this last scene that I emailed the contact person – who went by the name of ‘Lee Hampton’ – to explain that this scene was not an example of reparations and could mislead viewers. I asked that they not use it in the film and shared several resources overviewing legitimate systemic efforts for reparations,” DiAngelo wrote.
“After reviewing the sequence of events and discussing it with colleagues, I realized that they had lied about their agenda and I had been played,” she added. DiAngelo further explained how she was deceived and referred people to the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center’s profile of Walsh.
In the Borat-style undercover mockumentary, Walsh disguises himself as a left-wing activist to trick DiAngelo and other “anti-racist” educators into discussing racism and participating in bizarre scenes.
DiAngelo became one of America’s most prominent race activists when the death of George Floyd ignited Black Lives Matter riots nationwide and a renewed obsession with racial injustice and historical misdeeds. White Fragility was a bestseller fit for the moment – a book that assigned white Americans collective guilt for the sins of the past paired with therapeutic language on why people might not be receptive to progressive ideas.
Now, DiAngelo is facing allegations that she plagiarized parts of her dissertation by ripping off passages from multiple scholars without properly citing them, the Washington Free Beacon reported. Two of the scholars DiAngelo allegedly plagarized from are minorities, despite her professed belief that white people should always give credit to minorities for their ideas.
The plagiarism accusations against DiAngelo are featured in an academic complaint filed with the University of Washington, where she received her doctorate.
Walsh addressed DiAngelo’s statement last week, saying she correctly described the film’s intention to make fun of “anti-racist” activists.
“Robin DiAngelo has issued a statement denouncing our film. She claims that the movie is ‘designed to humiliate and discredit anti-racist educators and activists.’ She couldn’t be more correct in that assessment. Thank you, Robin!” Walsh posted on X.
Never breaking character, Walsh’s film is as much a comedic endeavor as it is an attempt to expose the cottage industry of “anti-racism” consultants and diversity, equity, and inclusion professionals. The film is playing in select theaters and is receiving high ratings from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes.