With both a precise view of success from an individual’s perspective and with consideration of success in society at large, Dr. Jordan B. Peterson explains how favorable outcomes are possible in his new series on DailyWire+. In the second episode, “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/success-for-men-women" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Success for Men and Women</a>,” Peterson investigates the markings of success for both genders, distinguishing the differences between the two while also illuminating their cooperation together. 
Existentialism, a philosophical theory centered on experience, the individual, and existence, is one to which Peterson has tied himself for years. Yet he differs from some existentialist thinkers in that he is not only able to see the need for an individual to find one’s place in a social hierarchy, but he is also able to articulate that need — and the reasons for it. In other words, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exposure-therapy-radical-transformation-and-embracing-reality" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reality</a> does very much take place outside an individual, and becoming part of the universal hierarchy of harmony is a prerequisite for success. 
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/success-for-men-women" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH &#8216;SUCCESS FOR MEN &amp; WOMEN&#8217; ON DAILYWIRE+</a>
Spoken with the knowledge and experience of a teacher, Peterson sets forth an example after reiterating the need to be <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-making-of-a-leader-dr-jordan-b-peterson-lays-the-foundation-of-success-in-new-series" target="_blank" rel="noopener">integrated into a hierarchy of social community</a>, turning a potential philosophical convolution into an understandable realistic practicality. Where can we look to see an example of this universal hierarchy of harmony? “You see it most fundamentally — experience it most fundamentally — in the case of music,” he says. “Music is intrinsically meaningful, and that intrinsic meaning of music isn’t subject to rational criticism. It circumvents rational criticism. It’s more fundamentally real than anything rational criticism can undermine. And that’s really something remarkable.” Remarkable, indeed. 
An appreciator of live music and a collector of artwork, Peterson’s personal passions are not limited to his academic subject areas. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-eternal-question-of-human-beings-how-do-you-live-in-the-world" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Music and art</a> have held his attention for quite some time. To explain, he offers an analogy, comparing musical patterns to the structure of the world: “Music replicates the structure of the world in that the world is made out of hierarchies of patterns, and those patterns can interact harmoniously. That’s what happens in a musical piece. And then the musical piece will compel you to align yourself with that harmonious pattern of movement. And that emergent harmonious alignment? Well, people love that.” Quoting Walter Pater, Peterson recollects the notion that art aspires to the condition but magnifies it, saying, “All life aspires to the condition of music.” 
Almost as though he is able to prophetically discern a potential counterargument from viewers, Peterson poses a counter on his viewers’ behalf, asking, “Why shouldn’t it be all about me?  Why shouldn’t I just be selfish?” This, of course, depends on your definition of “selfish,” which he defines, morals aside, inquiring, “Do you mean that the you that wants something right now should always get it? Because that’s actually going to be problematic for the extended you.” He contends that you should not be selfish — because it is not in your interest. Selfishness has a way of leading to betrayal, one that betrays others and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/commit-to-a-long-term-plan-to-have-the-adventure-of-your-life" target="_blank" rel="noopener">your future self</a>. 
When playing a game of football or the game of life, you win by supporting your fellow teammates, trying hard to win, having enough <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/why-a-change-of-plans-causes-emotional-destabilization" target="_blank" rel="noopener">emotional coherency</a>, and showing some magnificence of character. These pointers are understood easily enough as Peterson outlines how to win; at the same time, his explanation of how emotions take hold of an individual is psychologically founded. Rather than think of a person as impulsive, it is possible to consider impulse itself as gripping the identity of someone so completely that the person identifies with the impulse. To notice the hold impulsivity has, you must be psychologically sound — and introspective. Otherwise, anger, for example, may convince you that you are no more than anger, when in actuality, this is just “the fragmentary motivational state of anger.” 
Here, Peterson transitions to a discussion of success as it relates to both genders. (Emotions, after all, take center stage in a relationship.) “We’re checking each other out for this sort of higher-order regulation capacity all the time in ways we don’t understand at all.” Delving into the differences of success between men and women, he recognizes we “probably don’t understand that as well as we might” — though we do have a starting point. Peterson addresses the research-proven and easily observable fact that “more successful women are intimidating to men,” whereas success in regards to men is “the primary hallmark of attractiveness to women.” 
Being socioeconomically successful is an indication of competence — not wealth. Women’s motivation for seeking a partner who is socioeconomically successful is indicative of their attraction to competence, which Peterson identifies as “an issue to be considering, for men who are trying to contemplate what might constitute success.” Though he acknowledges how the opposite gender views success when considering attractiveness (i.e., what men look for in women and, similarly, what women look for in men), he creates a framework of success for each gender as intertwined with and separate from the other. 
He goes on, explaining, “It’s very useful for men to develop a high level of competence in at least one thing. It’s extraordinarily useful as a disciplinary process.” This is because “men with sense admire competence,” he notes. For the women viewers, he addresses a paradoxical and societal problem with which they must contend: “Women are enjoined to develop their career, and they’re impelled to believe that there’ll be nothing more important for them in their life than their career. Now, that’s a lie. That’s not even true for most people, let alone most women.” 
To be hyper-successful at a career, you must be smart, conscientious, and willing to work 80 hours a week. Peterson recalls working alongside some of the first female professors to be granted tenure at Harvard, the price of which was reflected in their decisions to not have children. Having worked with large law firms as a consultant for about 10 years, he remembers seeing female partners leave those firms around the age of 30, having witnessed their priorities to have shifted once they had children: “The relative importance of their career compared to their children shifts dramatically.” He even cites one client to have thought of having a child as almost decorative — until she had her own. “There isn’t anyone you like better than your children,” he asserts. 
To continue being hypercompetitive and career-driven while also being a dedicated mother puts women in a “terrible bind,” feeling guilty when they are at work and not with their children and when with their children and not at work. The question, according to Peterson, is not “why aren’t there any successful women?” The question to ask is, “Why is there a small percentage of hyper-successful men who are willing to sacrifice everything in pursuit of that success?”
Thoughtfully considering success, Peterson returns to its eight dimensions, concluding that being hyper-successful at a couple of those dimensions has some payoffs, excelling in one far above another can have advantages, but being consistent in all can definitely lead to success. Peterson ends with a look to the future and a reminder to consider what is ahead, stating, “Your viewpoint does shift across time, and your definitions of success have to take that into account.” Framing your proper perspective now will inherently create a proper perspective of the future, which he intends to help viewers do.

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Dr. Jordan B. Peterson Outlines How Men And Women Can Be Successful In Their Respective Natures

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Words from someone who has achieved a successful standing, such as Dr. Jordan B. Peterson, impart guidance to those seeking direction from a role model with the sincerest of qualities and most admirable of attributes. Peterson has provided those words of guidance in “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/success" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Success</a>,” a new series exclusively available on DailyWire+.
Peterson is arguably one of the best influential teachers to speak on the topic of success, though he would not be the one to make such a claim. When you meet Peterson, he is humble, never one to make arrogant remarks; considerate, always interested in even the strangers who surround him; and engaged, kindly focused on whoever speaks to him. He has a remarkable ability to concentrate solely on the person in front of him, almost as though all extraneous happenings have disappeared from his sight. 
But the markers are clear, as he has achieved what most would define as success. He has come to popularity among crowds of the average man and woman searching for trusted guidance in life. He stands toe-to-toe with academic intellectuals, challenging them in their thinking while at the same time learning alongside them. He has interviewed some of the most noteworthy people in this generation and has been interviewed by the most noteworthy outlets. His family surrounds him with support and love. The facts of Peterson’s life give him a firm foundation on which to speak on success. 
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/success" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH &#8216;SUCCESS&#8217; ON DAILYWIRE+</a>
Cast in a large Roman library, the setting appears regal as Peterson sits facing the camera in a wooden chair, with the Biblioteca Villanciano’s vastness in the background. He addresses the viewer directly, as though you sit straight across from him in an intimate conversation. Though he is a renowned speaker, a world-class lecturer, and an accomplished <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dr-jordan-b-peterson-establishes-a-path-out-of-depression-in-new-series">clinical psychologist</a> in both scholarship and practice, Peterson does not have any airs of pretension about him. He is confident, yet relaxed; knowing, yet assuaging. Attentive as though you sit immediately before him, Peterson begins his discourse. 
Leading without fanfare, he addresses the qualities ordinarily associated with success: “Let’s talk about some of the markers of success: money, fame, power,” he states matter of factly as he launches into the topic of money. “You hear this saying, ‘Money is the root of all evil.’ That’s not the saying,” he corrects. “The saying is, ‘The love of money is the root of all evil.’” Peterson cites the sixth chapter of 1 Timothy, as he synthesizes biblical knowledge with practical wisdom, never disparaging the viewer but rather consistently bolstering their knowledge. He has a unique way of taking commonly referenced sayings, no matter their origin, and clarifying their meaning so as to make them accessible, able to be understood and put into practice. 
He starts broadly, discussing trade and trustworthy reciprocity at an economic level, and moves to being specific, illuminating the topic at an individual level for the viewer. Money is not the worst proxy for success, yet it is insufficient, as Peterson suggests. “As the cliche insists, there’s all sorts of things money can’t buy,” he explains and follows with an anecdote: A rich elderly man cannot buy the youth of a young person; given the opportunity to receive $20 million at the cost of becoming 85 years old, the young person would not likely accept. It is the young person who then has the advantage. “If you’re wise,” he concludes, “you don’t dare to be sanctimonious or holier than thou about the signals of valid trade.” 
With regard to validity, Peterson distinguishes between valid and invalid fame. He defines the difference between the two, then addresses the issues of selling out and pandering to the crowd. If the pursuit of fame comes from a desire for notoriety and name recognition and is divorced from genuine social utility that is reciprocal, it becomes pathological. He delineates, “So, is there something wrong with wanting to be admired? Probably. Probably what’s more accurate is: There’s nothing wrong with wanting to live in a manner that other people would deem admirable. That’s a more sophisticated take on the idea.” 
As he moves to the topic of power, Peterson asks: “Why would you equate success with power?” Certainly, we do so naturally. Successful people are, most assuredly, powerful people, whether in their specific field or in society at large, but it is how they use their skills that matter. As Peterson goes on to discuss, there is utility in being a leader, but the qualities of leadership (discernment in direction, unification, and accomplishment) can be easily confused with the ability to wield power. Real leaders listen and problem-solve, Peterson explains, saying, “If you intervene at the right time, you don’t need to use power. And why use compulsion when you can use persuasion?” Real leaders can correct a crisis when it is 50 miles away, so it never actually becomes a crisis.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/money-fame-power" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8216;MONEY, FAME, &amp; POWER&#8217; NOW STREAMING ON DAILYWIRE+</a>
Happiness and stability are the next subjects into which Peterson delves, as they are often associated with success. Peterson has been consistent over his years of teaching to impress upon his listeners the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-more-reliable-and-meaningful-aim-than-happiness">importance of sacrifice</a> in the present for security <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/commit-to-a-long-term-plan-to-have-the-adventure-of-your-life">in the long term</a>, and he remains consistent now, remarking, “There’s a stability that emerges as a consequence of the willingness to forego impulsive gratification that’s a hallmark of maturity.” Genuine intense <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/on-depression-and-anxiety-how-micro-goals-facilitate-positive-emotion">pleasure</a> comes from progress made toward a goal, and when stability, predictability, and security occur over a long period of time, “you’re not talking about happiness anymore; you’re talking about something more like iterable stability.” 
Peterson warns of the notion of emotions, such as happiness, being linked to success: “The error in that presupposition is the implicit assumption that your subjective emotional state is the right marker for what constitutes success.” This becomes problematic because “that doesn’t take other people into account.” He goes on, saying, “There isn’t anything worse that can happen to you, on average, than to not get along with people.” He assures listeners of the degree to which we are the most <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/family-dinners-shared-meals-and-the-importance-of-social-engagement">social of creatures</a>. 
Concluding with the topic of multidimensional harmony, Peterson clarifies its relationship to success. Health of an integrated self, a long-term sexually <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/an-act-of-faith-why-marriage-is-far-better-than-the-single-life">committed romantic relationship</a>, and communication within that relationship shield one from being impulsive, calling back to stability. There is danger, however, in thinking of success as fundamentally subjective. “It’s a big mistake. You want to be integrated into a hierarchy of social community in a manner that’s harmonious.” 
Such harmony is the hallmark of success, words that Peterson leaves with his viewers to guide them to an understanding of success and the ability to harness success in their own lives. “You’ll be in the right place at the right time, doing the right thing.”

The Making Of A Leader: Dr. Jordan B. Peterson Lays The Foundation Of ‘Success’ In New Series

In the fifth and final episode of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/dr-jordan-b-peterson-on-depression-anxiety" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Depression &amp; Anxiety</a>,” Dr. Jordan B. Peterson hones in on the topics of identity and the future. The seriousness and gravity of the subjects he discusses in “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/reconstructing-the-future-you" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reconstructing The Future You</a>” match the black-and-white cast of the production, but Peterson’s demeanor brings light to the episode. Posed with information to divulge, he begins, “One of the things that’s come up recently on the political front is this idea that psychotherapeutic care, and medical care for that matter, should be identity affirming. And this is absolutely 100% preposterous.”
Yet this is not a claim he avoids extrapolating. Peterson goes on to explain there are questions that should be asked with regard to identity affirmation: What do you mean by identity? How should identity be properly measured? What is the proper role of a therapist in relation to identity? As a licensed clinical psychologist, Peterson knows the ethical requirements by which therapists are bound. They are not to rely on the reports of sporadic emotion, as doing so violates ethical clinical care. Rather, therapists are to explore identity with their clients.
Such an initiative becomes one of elaboration of identity. Exploring identity is an undertaking a therapist engages in with their client by asking: Who are you? Peterson explains that might involve walking through your whole life: “Where did you come from? Who are you now? Where are you going?” Past, present, and future are all the parts of the whole.
Peterson explains the point of therapy in the context of this episode and the discussion of identity, but he makes a statement that applies to therapy at large: “We’re here so that things can be better for you, and we’re going to explore what ‘better’ means because that’s, in some ways, something you have to determine — conceivably in consultation with me because we’re trying to solve the problem. But you have to define what ‘better’ is.” Again, Peterson provides an element of hope, a running theme throughout this series.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/dr-jordan-b-peterson-on-depression-anxiety" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: DR. JORDAN B. PETERSON’S SERIES, “DEPRESSION &amp; ANXIETY,” ON DAILYWIRE+</a>
While Peterson addresses that what you feel moment-to-moment is not incontrovertibly correct, he also explains the importance of developing the skills to discern what is true with regard to identity — and getting the story straight. A therapist can help people confront the traumas of their past, and writing about such trauma, though difficult, proves helpful and predicts improvement. People are able to figure out why and how they might avoid it again in the future.
But it is your future self that Peterson leads to in the conclusion of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/dr-jordan-b-peterson-on-depression-anxiety" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Depression &amp; Anxiety</a>.” For years, Peterson has taught on the subject and necessity of aiming up, advocating that we should each do what we can in the confines of our own life in the unlimited expanse of the opportunity of our own lives to aim up. He reiterates this in his concluding episode, saying, “We’re aiming to make things better. I’m on the side of you that wants things to be better, so I&#8217;m an advocate for that — whatever that is. I’m an advocate for that, that part of your identity.” It is the betterment of lives that Peterson continually strives to impress upon his viewers, though it is not an undertaking to pursue without effort.
He explains this to be part of the true essence of effective psychotherapy. Genuine growth does not come from simple affirmation, as growth is by no means “simple.” It requires exploration, reconstruction, and meticulous attention to details of your own life, but it is a task that will lead to a future self worth pursuing.

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The Destruction Of Identity-Affirming Psychotherapy And Advocating For Your Future Self

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Depression

Psychology

Therapy

Matt Walsh’s newest masterpiece and the decade’s top-grossing documentary “Am I Racist?” is now streaming on DailyWire+. 
After becoming The Daily Wire’s first theatrical release for an in-house production, the film quickly set records, grossing more than $12 million at the box office and debuting in the top five films in the country on its opening weekend. The film directed by Justin Folk features Walsh going undercover in the world of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), hilariously skewering the absurdity of race hustlers. 
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/?_gl=1*1h3jcgj*_gcl_au*ODQ1NjYzNTg2LjE3Mjg5MDk3OTE.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTcyOTc5ODQ2Ny40Mi4xLjE3Mjk4MDE0NjEuNjAuMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH ‘AM I RACIST?’ EXCLUSIVELY ON DAILYWIRE+</a>
Here’s everything you need to know about Walsh’s highly-praised film:
<h3>Walsh reveals the craziness of DEI by letting the “experts” speak for themselves</h3>
In “Am I Racist?” the radical beliefs of leftists are put on full display as an undercover Walsh interviews DEI advocates, such as Saira Rao and Robin DiAngelo. Some of the comments made by the race-obsessed activists would almost be unbelievable if they hadn’t been filmed and turned into a documentary for the world to see. 
In <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/robin-diangelo-breaks-am-i-racist-silence-says-she-got-played-by-borat-style-mockumentary" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one scene</a>, Walsh, sporting a man bun, convinces DiAngelo that she had a “powerful opportunity” to display her commitment to anti-racism by giving his black producer, Ben, money from her purse.
Another scene features Rao lecturing her “Race to Dinner” guests about how racist they are. In his disguise, Walsh joins the conversation and makes some hilariously ridiculous remarks that the guests go along with. Rao later <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/saira-rao-privately-slams-am-i-racist-as-nazi-white-supremacy-film" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> “Am I Racist?” a “fascist Nazi white supremacy film.”
<h3>Watch never-before-seen footage only on DailyWire+</h3>
If you saw &#8220;Am I Racist?&#8221; in theaters, you&#8217;ll also want to stream it on DailyWire+ to watch never-before-seen footage.
<h3>Leftists wanted to “break a window to escape” Walsh’s presence during one scene</h3>
“Anti-racist” activists <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/police-report-lefties-wanted-to-break-a-window-to-escape-matt-walshs-presence-at-white-privilege-event" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called the police</a> on Walsh after realizing Walsh was in their “Grieving White Privilege, Anti-Racist Allyship Training” support group during one scene of “Am I Racist?” One attendee even said it was “concerning” that one of the police officers who arrived on the scene was familiar with Walsh, and insisted that the officer was one of Walsh’s fans, though he in no way indicated that was the case.
<h3>“Am I Racist?” has a phenomenal soundtrack to go along with the film</h3>
The production quality of Walsh’s film is as good as you’ll see anywhere, and that includes the “Am I Racist?” soundtrack. After the film’s release in theaters in September, the soundtrack <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/am-i-racist-soundtrack-cracks-top-10-on-itunes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cracked the Top 10</a> on the iTunes soundtrack chart. Christian rap artist Bryson Gray celebrated his song “<a href="https://music.apple.com/us/album/am-i-racist/1764134533?i=1764134535" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Am I Racist?</a>” hitting the #7 spot on the iTunes chart. Gray also wrote the song “Do the Work,” which is featured in the film. 
<h3>Leading media voices have high praise for “Am I Racist?” </h3>
Numerous top podcasters and political commentators, even some leftists, had <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-what-leading-media-voices-are-saying-about-the-decades-1-documentary-am-i-racist" target="_blank" rel="noopener">high praise</a> for Walsh’s documentary. Podcast giant Joe Rogan called “Am I Racist?” “one of the best comedies [he’s] seen in a long time.”
Political commentator Megyn Kelly said the film “takes all of the craziest DEI pushers — puts them together in one movie. Matt Walsh, in his man bun, sits down with Robin DiAngelo. I died. Honestly, there were so many great moments in there.”
Fox News host Greg Gutfeld called “Am I Racist?” a “big hit,” praising Walsh for nabbing an interview with leftist author Robin DiAngelo.  
Meanwhile, The New Yorker, a leftist magazine, said Walsh’s film is “something a red-pilled Sacha Baron Cohen might make,” adding, “The biggest coup of ‘Am I Racist?’ is the interview that Walsh scores with Robin DiAngelo.” Another leftist media outlet, The Hollywood Reporter, wrote that Walsh’s new film “seemingly came out of nowhere … the top opening for a political documentary since Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 two decades ago in 2004.”
If you missed the theatrical release of “Am I Racist?” or if you want to watch the film again, you can do so now by becoming a <a href="https://www.amiracist.com/?_gl=1*1h3jcgj*_gcl_au*ODQ1NjYzNTg2LjE3Mjg5MDk3OTE.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTcyOTc5ODQ2Ny40Mi4xLjE3Mjk4MDE0NjEuNjAuMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DailyWire+ member</a>. Get <a href="https://www.amiracist.com/?_gl=1*1h3jcgj*_gcl_au*ODQ1NjYzNTg2LjE3Mjg5MDk3OTE.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTcyOTc5ODQ2Ny40Mi4xLjE3Mjk4MDE0NjEuNjAuMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">35% off an annual membership</a> by using code DEI. 
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/?_gl=1*jtghwp*_gcl_au*ODQ1NjYzNTg2LjE3Mjg5MDk3OTE.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczMDEyMDgwOS40OS4xLjE3MzAxMjA4MzkuMzAuMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MATT WALSH&#8217;S &#8216;AM I RACIST?&#8217; NOW STREAMING ON DAILYWIRE+</a>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The moment you’ve been waiting for &#8211; “Am I Racist?” is available NOW on DailyWire+!
Don&#39;t miss the number one documentary of the decade, only on DailyWire+: <a href="https://t.co/I3aSeWN6G3">https://t.co/I3aSeWN6G3</a> <a href="https://t.co/RyLKZS5eQS">pic.twitter.com/RyLKZS5eQS</a>
&mdash; Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1850766627249512571?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 28, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Am I Racist?

‘Am I Racist?’ Now Streaming On DailyWire+

Am I Racist

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The following is an edited transcript of an interview between Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley and Justin Folk, director of the hit comedic documentary &#8220;<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Am I Racist?</a>&#8220;on a special <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire/creating-documentaries-that-challenge-narratives-from-what-is-a-woman-to-am-i-racist-10-27-24" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sunday Extra edition of Morning Wire</a>.
The Daily Wire’s new Matt Walsh-starring comedy “<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/">Am I Racist?</a>” is now the most successful documentary to hit theaters in a decade — despite major headwinds from legacy media and a hostile Hollywood. We sat down with the director, Justin Folk, to discuss his film’s box office run, its launch on Daily Wire+, and why getting conservative content in theaters is now more crucial than ever.
* * *
JOHN: Joining us to discuss the box office run of the Matt Walsh comedy “<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/">Am I Racist?</a>” is its director Justin Folk. Justin, great to have you on the show.
JUSTIN: Yeah, thanks for having me. It&#8217;s good to be on with you guys. Listen to you guys a lot, actually.
JOHN: We love to hear that. Look, you directed the Daily Wire&#8217;s first big documentary hit, “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/videos/what-is-a-woman">What Is A Woman?</a>” This film is sort of a sequel in some ways, but it’s also very different on many levels – that includes this time you took your film to theaters. That&#8217;s a major risk, but it appears to have paid off here. First, how much has the film brought in from theaters at this point?
JUSTIN: Well, we&#8217;ve passed the $12 million mark at the box office, which is very, very exciting and actually quite historic for a documentary. I believe we&#8217;re the top documentary of the decade. And to achieve that sort of level of success in the theaters out of the gate for The Daily Wire, I think, was a big achievement and I&#8217;m really proud of it. I know the team is proud of it. Ultimately, there were a lot of people involved in that effort. But at the base of it all, we had to make a good film for that to happen. You mentioned that this film is different than “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/videos/what-is-a-woman">What is a Woman?</a>,” and that&#8217;s by design. We didn&#8217;t want to come out with a half-hearted sophomore effort, and we knew we had to do something different. We knew we had to kind of go bigger. “What is a Woman?” is a little bit more of a straightforward documentary. This one is much more of a comedy and we felt like the issue of race demanded a different approach. With what we&#8217;re seeing with all the race hustlers and the people who are dividing us as a society, we just felt like ridicule would be one of the best tools we could use when making this film.
JOHN: Right. Speaking of ridicule, describing the film was actually a bit of a struggle sometimes for people. Some called it a “mockumentary,” which is not actually correct, but it did include a lot of mocking of things, as you said. If you could sum up the approach to this film, what were you trying to attain?
JUSTIN: Well, first of all, let&#8217;s start with the category. It would officially be categorized as a comedic documentary, which isn&#8217;t a very sexy term. I don&#8217;t think those two things usually go together. So I think it&#8217;s hard for people to kind of understand what this is. But it&#8217;s comedic and so there&#8217;s a lot of laughs, there&#8217;s a lot of jokes in there, but it&#8217;s a documentary, too, because these are very real situations that we put Matt Walsh in and we wanted things to play out with real people. So that approach was something we basically started with. We knew the success of “What Is Woman?” was achieved by allowing people to kind of talk, to say what they really feel about things, and that was very eye-opening for Americans. In terms of race, same thing here, we wanted these people pushing this race agenda to just say in their own words what they felt and what they wanted for the rest of us as Americans. We felt that would be powerful for Americans just to see and then to decide for themselves if this is the right path. The approach involved taking Matt, dropping him into the situation with these people, and essentially having Matt believe them, then chart the course based on all of their prescriptions. And that&#8217;s what Matt did. He basically became one of them, and in doing so, I think we revealed the ideology underneath and what&#8217;s behind it all. When Matt adopted this character as an anti-racist grifter himself, you got to see what&#8217;s behind it philosophically and what it all leads to. And that was our goal, to have Matt become one of them, essentially.
<div id="attachment_796413" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-796413" class="size-large wp-image-796413" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/MixCollage-15-Sep-2024-07-18-AM-8749-1-1024x576.jpg" alt="Am I Racist? movie starring Matt Walsh. Screenshot courtesy: DailyWire." width="1024" height="576" />The Daily Wire</div>
JOHN: You know, it strikes me that this the “Yes, and&#8230;” approach that you learn in improv – the entire film is Matt performing a “Yes, and&#8230;” which really opens the door for letting some of these DEI “experts” go deeper into their ideology than they normally would if you started to question their approach. And it clearly worked here. Did you expect this kind of reception in theaters, this degree of success?
JUSTIN: You know, I was hoping for this level of success, this reception. The thing that surprised me was how consistent the response was in terms of being positive and in terms of people understanding the humor. If I had a fear, it was that we were making a film that only the demographic males 25 to 55 would really enjoy, but the rest — women and older people — it would maybe just kind of go over their head. But that hasn&#8217;t been the case. I had the fortunate ability to go to some of these pre-screenings before the film came out, and I got to watch the audience react to a lot of the jokes and a lot of the things that were in the film. And it was universal. It was across the board, the reaction that we got from people in the audience – whether they were young or old or male or female. And that just gave me a big sense of pride that we made something that everybody can enjoy. Now some people think some jokes are funnier than others, and some people really love some moments in the film compared to others. But really it was, as a filmmaker, you try to make something that would be universally accepted and liked, and that was just great confirmation for what we did.
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JOHN: Now one of the controversies for the film early on involved critic reviews. This film has gotten outstanding audience reviews from the start, but was shunned by major media critics. Where did the critic reviews stand at this point? Did you get some of the legacy critics to actually weigh in?
JUSTIN: We had a couple mainstream critics eventually limp in with a review. And I think they did that because they were sort of called out for, for ignoring this film. Initially they were staying away from it. We have our theory why they were staying away from it, and that involves the fact that it was a good film – and I don&#8217;t think they wanted to give Matt Walsh that platform. We did have a lot of, I guess, mid-tier critics review the film, and it was very, very well-accepted by them. And these are people with no ax to grind. These are people who don&#8217;t work for a major media entity, and they were just quite honest with their review and they just were like, “Wow, this is a very, very powerful and very funny film.” Some of them even got backlash for doing so. We can kind of understand why some of these mainstream critics ignored it because we knew they would actually face a lot of backlash.
<div id="attachment_796125" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-796125" class="size-large wp-image-796125" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/MixCollage-13-Sep-2024-06-00-PM-700-1024x576.jpg" alt="Am I Racist? movie starring Matt Walsh. Screenshot courtesy: DailyWire." width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/MixCollage-13-Sep-2024-06-00-PM-700-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/MixCollage-13-Sep-2024-06-00-PM-700-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/MixCollage-13-Sep-2024-06-00-PM-700-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/MixCollage-13-Sep-2024-06-00-PM-700-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/MixCollage-13-Sep-2024-06-00-PM-700-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Screenshot courtesy: DailyWire.</div>
JOHN: Yeah. At what stage did you begin to plan for a theater launch? Was this the plan all along or did this sort of become more concrete later on?
JUSTIN: Listen, there&#8217;s a lot of risk involved in going to the theater, and there are a lot of things that need to fall into place. And I&#8217;ve got to give credit to The Daily Wire team. I&#8217;ve got to give credit to Jeremy Boreing for navigating all that – Jon Lewis, Dave Coleman and the whole team. First of all, we had to convince theaters to take us. We had to convince the exhibitors themselves that this is something that they would want to have in their theaters and would actually do good business. And so there was a lot of hurdles along the way, and, meticulously, Daily Wire got over all those hurdles, and positioned this film in such a way that the exhibitors would take it. Also all the marketing that took place, there&#8217;s just so much involved in going to the theater. There&#8217;s a ton of risk, and that risk is something you definitely have to consider when launching into this. But I&#8217;m glad we did. I think we proved what we set out to do. And I just feel very fortunate that we were able to have people see this in theaters, where they could sit together in a group and laugh.
JOHN: About that, how significant is it for conservatives in particular to get content into theaters like this?
JUSTIN: As conservatives, we have to play on the battlefield that the rest of society plays on. We have a tendency to kind of shrink back into our silos and speak to only our people. And, listen, as conservatives, we have the best ideas, we have the winning ideas, and those ideas need to be played out on the main stage. And in the case of theaters, theaters are a main stage. Theaters are a place where a lot of people go for their entertainment. These are people, some of them, that aren&#8217;t really engaged in politics. These are people that have busy lives and don&#8217;t pay attention too much to a lot of the issues. And so we need to reach those people. And so, we need to perform the way the Left does when it comes to getting our ideas out there to the mainstream, and theaters is one way we can do that. And so, listen, not every conservative film is meant for the theaters. Different films have different purposes. In our case, we really went hard. We kind of went hard to the paint with the fact that we wanted to make this an entertaining movie first, and then have our ideas tucked in alongside. And, you know, that makes our film very palatable for a movie theater environment. But, listen, I think it&#8217;s very important that conservatives take some of that ground back from the Left and have our ideas play out on the main stage.
JOHN: Yeah, and seeing this reach over 1,600 theaters was a massive deal, just almost symbolically. The film is now going to be available on demand exclusively on the Daily Wire+ platform. In general, do theater runs help or hurt streaming performance in the industry?
JUSTIN: Theater runs. are extremely helpful. In fact, a lot of distributors refer to theatrical releases as a big marketing campaign. And I think that&#8217;s the truth here because it allows you to get your film out there in the public in a way that you wouldn&#8217;t normally have it out there. And so the theatrical release of “Am I Racist?” I think is only going to help really raise awareness with the general public, and then point those people back to Daily Wire+ to go watch it, if they didn&#8217;t get a chance to see it in theaters. And so, yeah, I think the theatrical release is really going to help this film. I think it&#8217;s going to really drive a lot of attention to it for the home entertainment platform and the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/videos/am-i-racist-official-trailer">Daily Wire+</a> platform. I&#8217;m excited about that because a lot of people didn&#8217;t get a chance to see it. People have busy lives, but at least they heard about it. And now they can go watch it on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/videos/am-i-racist-official-trailer">Daily Wire+</a>. the good news there is they can watch as many times as they want, it&#8217;s not a one time viewing. And I do recommend that with this particular film. This is the type of film that you&#8217;re going to want to watch a couple of times just to catch all the great performances that Matt has throughout.
<div id="attachment_812569" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-812569" class="size-large wp-image-812569" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/00_AIR_16x9_OCT28_V05-1024x576.jpg" alt="Am I Racist" width="1024" height="576" />DailyWire+</div>
JOHN: Yeah, I found that myself, there&#8217;s so many little details that you miss the first time around. For you personally, this is a unique film. It&#8217;s unorthodox in many ways. As a filmmaker, what did you learn in the making of this particular film?
JUSTIN: There&#8217;s a lot I learned in making any film, and it seems like every time we go out and do something we&#8217;re endeavoring to do something very difficult, and we&#8217;re diving into a topic. And when you dive into a topic, you have to sort of live it while you&#8217;re making it – and in this case, it was even more so, because Matt had to live this character, and so we had to essentially think like the other side. Matt had to adopt their beliefs and let them play out. So I learned a lot about the topic itself. I also learned a lot about America and how we view the issue of race, and how there are actually way more people who think rationally about this issue than I think we realize. It&#8217;s just that they&#8217;ve been taken advantage of. They&#8217;ve been polite. I think these people who are pushing this DEI agenda have taken advantage of so many people in this country who don&#8217;t want to be mean, who don&#8217;t want to be called a bigot. And so one of the things I learned was actually a hopeful thing, which was most people don&#8217;t go along with this stuff. They don&#8217;t go along with this racial division. That was sort of a hopeful thing I learned along the way. We found that common, everyday people don&#8217;t really buy what&#8217;s being sold by these so-called “race experts.” And so that was a very uplifting realization for me.
JOHN: Some of the more powerful moments in the film came from just regular folks dismissing the racially divisive talking points. Final question, what&#8217;s next for you? Any plans to work further with Walsh or any other Daily Wire talent? Can you answer this question?
JUSTIN: Absolutely. I mean, I can say that we are working on stuff and it&#8217;s been a pleasure to work with Matt on these last two films. We have such a great team. It&#8217;s a small, tight knit team of just great professionals who are just the best at what they do. And I&#8217;ll be honest with you, it&#8217;s a lot of fun making these movies with Matt. It&#8217;s not always easy, it&#8217;s a challenging thing to do what we&#8217;ve been doing, but it has been a ton of fun and we would love to keep that going.
JOHN: Well, we hope you do. Justin, thank you so much for talking with us. It&#8217;s been a pleasure.
JUSTIN: Thanks, John. Great to be on.
JOHN: That was Justin Folk, director of “Am I Racist?” available starting this week exclusively on Daily Wire+ – and this has been a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire/creating-documentaries-that-challenge-narratives-from-what-is-a-woman-to-am-i-racist-10-27-24" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sunday Extra edition of Morning Wire</a>.

Am I Racist? Movie Premiere

EXCLUSIVE: ‘Am I Racist?’ Director Talks Race Hustlers, Ridicule, And Conservatives In Media

EXCLUSIVE: 'Am I Racist?' Director Talks Race Hustlers, Ridicule, And Conservatives In Media

Anti-Racism

Comedy

Documentaries

Movies

MixCollage-26-Oct-2024-08-54-AM-923

Race To The Middle: Which Candidate Resonates More With Middle America?

Border Crisis

Economy

Energy

Haitian immigrants

Illegal Immigration

Joe Biden

Southern Border

The following is an edited transcript of an interview between Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley and Jim Campbell, chief legal counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom on a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire/colorado-s-cakeshop-case-crumbles-a-free-speech-victory-saturday-extra" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Saturday Extra Edition of Morning Wire</a>.
For 12 years, Colorado cake shop owner Jack Phillips has been embroiled in bruising legal battles with the state and an activist attorney to uphold his First Amendment right to not create messages that violate his religious beliefs. A recent ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court in Phillips’ favor may be the end of that lengthy legal saga. In this episode, we sit down with Jim Campbell, chief legal counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, which has been representing Phillips, to discuss the conclusion and implications of the free speech case.
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JOHN: Joining us now is Jim Campbell, chief legal counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, which has been representing Jack Phillips during his lengthy legal saga, which many are hoping has now come to an end. Jim, thanks so much for coming on.
JIM: Thank you.
JOHN: Jack has been in courts fighting for his freedom of speech for twelve years now, during which time he’s faced several lawsuits. First, can you give us a brief history of those lawsuits – who filed them and what were their motivations?
JIM: So, the first lawsuit was filed back in 2012. It was filed by two gentlemen who went into Jack Phillips’ shop and asked for a custom wedding cake celebrating a same sex union. He declined that request because he couldn&#8217;t do it in good conscience, celebrate that message, and they filed a discrimination complaint with the State of Colorado. The State of Colorado then brought charges against Jack and that case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court back in 2018, when the court issued a ruling that found that the state acted with hostility towards Jack&#8217;s faith and it threw out the case that was brought against him. So that was the first case. The second case actually started the first day that the Supreme Court announced it was going to hear that first case. There was an attorney in Colorado who had heard the news and called Jack&#8217;s shop and asked him to create a custom pink and blue cake to symbolize and celebrate a gender transition. Jack declined to make that cake because, again, that message celebrating a gender transition was something he couldn&#8217;t in good conscience do. So then that attorney who made that phone call filed another discrimination complaint against Jack. That case then started when the state of Colorado picked it up and brought charges against Jack. Rather than sit back and allow that to happen, Jack filed a lawsuit against the state in federal court for, again, acting with hostility towards his faith. And then after a few months, the state agreed to settle that case. And that case was settled. And then the third case started, which was another lawsuit by that same attorney who requested the cake celebrating the gender transition. And that was the case that was just decided recently by the Colorado Supreme Court.
<div id="attachment_815231" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-815231" class="size-large wp-image-815231" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/JackPhillips-EnoughisEnough-031921-864x576.jpg" alt="Jack Phillips. Alliance Defending Freedom." width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/JackPhillips-EnoughisEnough-031921-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/JackPhillips-EnoughisEnough-031921-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/JackPhillips-EnoughisEnough-031921-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/JackPhillips-EnoughisEnough-031921.jpg 1040w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Jack Phillips. Alliance Defending Freedom.</div>
JOHN: What do we know about this activist lawyer who brought these two cases against him?
JIM: Well, this activist lawyer first called Jack&#8217;s shop back in 2012 when news first broke about his decision not to create the cake celebrating a same sex wedding. This individual called Jack a “hypocrite” and referred to Jack as a “bigot.” And then you fast forward six years later and the request is then brought asking for a pink and blue cake celebrating a gender transition. Right around that same time, that attorney made another request for a cake depicting Satan smoking marijuana. So, one thing that&#8217;s very clear is this attorney does not like Jack Phillips and is trying to harass Jack Phillips and make his life difficult.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire/colorado-s-cakeshop-case-crumbles-a-free-speech-victory-saturday-extra" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LISTEN: Catch the full interview on Morning Wire.</a></h3>
JOHN: So there&#8217;s evidence that at least this attorney specifically is targeting Jack, and the state was also deemed to be acting in a hostile way against him. Can you unpack that for us a bit more?
JIM: Yes, so the U. S. Supreme Court back in 2018 found that the State of Colorado is acting with hostility towards Jack&#8217;s faith. And it pointed to a couple different things. The first is that when the state was reviewing Jack&#8217;s case, there were a number of government officials that disparaged his beliefs and compared his beliefs to the beliefs of people that basically instituted the Holocaust. And the Supreme Court also found that Jack was being treated differently than other cake artists in the state. So there were other cake shops that were asked to create cakes that were either denigrating LGBT messages, and they declined to do so, and the state didn&#8217;t punish them. But when Jack declined to create a cake celebrating a same sex wedding, he was punished. So the Supreme Court said that this unequal treatment and these disparaging comments about Jack&#8217;s faith showed that the State of Colorado was acting with hostility towards his beliefs.
JOHN: All right, so now all these years later, we have this Colorado Supreme Court ruling. And many people are saying, look, this is the end of the legal battle against Jack Phillips. What exactly did the Supreme Court rule, and is it really the end?
JIM: The Colorado Supreme Court found that this attorney that brought the lawsuit did so using the wrong procedure, so they kicked the case out for that procedural reason. We&#8217;re hopeful this is the end of the road for Jack – that people will leave him alone, that the government of Colorado will leave him alone, that activists in the state will stop harassing him with requests simply to gin up lawsuits to be able to bring against him. But ultimately we have to wait and see. I mean, our position is: Enough is enough – let&#8217;s leave Jack alone and let him live his life consistent with his religious beliefs. And the other thing that a lot of people miss about Jack is that Jack serves everyone. He serves all customers, he serves all people, but he can&#8217;t create a cake that expresses all messages. If a message conflicts with his religious beliefs, he can&#8217;t do that, but he&#8217;ll serve everyone. He serves people from the LGBT community, that&#8217;s not an issue for him. It&#8217;s only when someone — anyone — asks for something expressing a message that he disagrees with.
<div id="attachment_815233" style="width: 875px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-815233" class="wp-image-815233 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/GettyImages-1307578412-865x576.jpg" alt="pawel.gaul. Getty Images." width="865" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/GettyImages-1307578412-865x576.jpg 865w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/GettyImages-1307578412-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/GettyImages-1307578412-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/GettyImages-1307578412-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/GettyImages-1307578412-2048x1364.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/GettyImages-1307578412-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/GettyImages-1307578412-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 865px) 100vw, 865px" />pawel.gaul. Getty Images.</div>
JOHN: Is there any chance that this ruling is appealed?
JIM: This ruling cannot be appealed because it is a question of Colorado state law and the Colorado Supreme Court is the highest authority on that issue. So this case is final, and Jack hopefully can now put behind him 12 years of non-stop litigation against him.
JOHN: Now you guys have obviously worked closely with Jack over these years. How has this impacted him personally? Has this done a lot of damage financially, professionally?
JIM: It has undermined his business in many ways. He was forced to give up his wedding business as a result of the first case, and he still hasn&#8217;t brought that back. So it has been difficult from a financial perspective because the wedding aspect of his business was a significant part. It&#8217;s also been hard on him and his family personally because they&#8217;ve experienced death threats, hostility, people coming into their shop and yelling very, very hateful messages at them. So that&#8217;s been difficult. But in the end, one thing that Jack always talks about is that this has really drawn his family closer and it has given them an appreciation in their faith, in their faith in a way that they didn&#8217;t have before. So there certainly has been some good that has come of it. But 12 years of your life just absolutely devoured by litigation and activists coming after you and state officials acting with hostility towards your faith is sure to take its toll.
JOHN: The legacy media has covered these cases at times over the course of the years. Do you feel that there’s anything that’s been missing from their coverage? What has been not emphasized enough about the nature of these cases?
JIM: They want to make this a story about Jack not serving people, when it&#8217;s really a story about Jack not wanting to express and celebrate certain messages. That&#8217;s something that is absolutely lost, when many in the media talk about Jack&#8217;s case. And that&#8217;s something that we try to be very, very clear about. Jack serves everyone. Doesn&#8217;t matter who you are. The question is: what are you asking him to communicate through that custom cake? And if it&#8217;s a message that conflicts with his beliefs, then it&#8217;s not something he&#8217;s able to do.
JOHN: Does this string of cases impact precedent in terms of legal expectations for people across the country in any way?
JIM: I think one of the cases that&#8217;s in the background in all of these matters is one that was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court just last year, called 303 Creative. And the 303 Creative case involved a graphic designer, and in that case the graphic designer objected to creating a custom web page celebrating a same sex wedding. And the Supreme Court said that the state of Colorado couldn&#8217;t force her to do that. That principle is very, very important, and it&#8217;s a principle that provides lasting protection, not only for graphic designers, like the one in that case, but also for custom cake artists like Jack Phillips, as well as wedding photographers – and many others. So, I think that that case, 303 Creative, provides significant ongoing protection for creative professionals that want to operate consistent with their beliefs and don&#8217;t want to be forced to express messages that they disagree with. But in terms of this decision from the Colorado Supreme Court in Jack&#8217;s most recent case, it really just decides a question of Colorado state procedure. But it&#8217;s the 303 Creative decision that provides that lasting protection.
JOHN: Now that 303 Creative was another one of the cases you guys were involved with. Do you have other cases in the works now that are similar to Jack Phillips’ cases?
JIM: In terms of others ongoing we have another one right now where we represent a wedding photographer in New York State. She&#8217;s a wedding photographer who doesn&#8217;t want to be forced to create images that celebrate events or express messages that conflict with her beliefs – and that case is ongoing there. We represent a wedding photographer in Louisville, Kentucky, who has a similar case, where she raises similar arguments that she doesn&#8217;t want to be forced to express messages that she disagrees with. So, this is an ongoing issue. There is more for federal courts to decide. And we&#8217;re hopeful that they will follow what the U.S. Supreme Court said in 303 Creative, which is these creative professionals can&#8217;t be forced to express messages that they disagree with.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire/colorado-s-cakeshop-case-crumbles-a-free-speech-victory-saturday-extra" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LISTEN: Catch the full interview on Morning Wire.</a></h3>
JOHN: Final question, stepping back a bit here. What is the larger takeaway, in your view, from this string of cases against Jack Phillips and their results?
JIM: I think it shows that there&#8217;s a lot of hostility towards people of faith. The government didn&#8217;t need to pick up this first case and treat it, Jack differently than it was treating other cake artists, but it did. And the only reason that we can come up with for why they would do that is the hostility towards his beliefs. The reason why this activist attorney concocted this request to ask for a custom cake celebrating a gender transition was because of hostility towards Jack&#8217;s faith. So at the end of the day, I believe what these cases show is that there&#8217;s a lot of hostility for people that simply want to quietly live their life consistent with their beliefs, and that&#8217;s unfortunate. And we hope that this is the end of the road for people doing that to Jack Phillips. And we hope more broadly that people throughout our society see that we should be allowing people to live according to their beliefs, and we don&#8217;t need to be harassing them and discriminating against them when they do it.
JOHN: Well, Jim, thank you so much for coming on to discuss these important cases.
JIM: Thank you.
JOHN: That was Jim Campbell, chief legal counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom – and this has been a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire/colorado-s-cakeshop-case-crumbles-a-free-speech-victory-saturday-extra" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Saturday Extra edition of Morning Wire</a>.

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Matt Walsh’s smash hit “Am I Racist?” was praised by those who saw it in theaters, becoming the top documentary of the last ten years, and soon it will <a href="https://www.amiracist.com/?_gl=1*1kw3r9d*_gcl_au*ODQ1NjYzNTg2LjE3Mjg5MDk3OTE.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTcyOTI2OTgzMy4yMy4xLjE3MjkyNjk4MzUuNTguMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stream exclusively on DailyWire+</a>.
The film has grossed more than $12 million at the box office after launching in theaters nationwide on September 13. “Am I Racist?” also debuted in the top five films in the country on its opening weekend. The film will stream exclusively on <a href="https://www.amiracist.com/?_gl=1*1kw3r9d*_gcl_au*ODQ1NjYzNTg2LjE3Mjg5MDk3OTE.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTcyOTI2OTgzMy4yMy4xLjE3MjkyNjk4MzUuNTguMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DailyWire+</a> beginning on October 28. 
The film directed by Justin Folk features famed provocateur Matt Walsh going undercover in the world of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), hilariously skewering the absurdity of race hustlers. Not only did “Am I Racist?” become the top documentary of the decade, but those who watched it also praised the film for its comedic genius. 
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amiracist.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1729077615157000&amp;usg=AOvVaw17Kprl74oE9DYOLREdiBPU">MATT WALSH’S ‘AM I RACIST?’ COMING TO DAILYWIRE+ OCT. 28</a>
<h3>Joe Rogan</h3>
Podcast giant and comedian Joe Rogan said on his show that “Am I Racist?” is “one of the best comedies [he’s] seen in a long time.”
<h3>Megyn Kelly</h3>
“It takes all of the craziest DEI pushers — puts them together in one movie,” said political commentator Megyn Kelly, adding, “Matt Walsh, in his man bun, sits down with Robin DiAngelo. I died. Honestly, there were so many great moments in there.”
<h3>Greg Gutfeld</h3>
Fox News host Greg Gutfeld called “Am I Racist?” a “big hit,” praising Walsh for nabbing an interview with leftist author Robin DiAngelo.  
“Another classic scene from the movie was getting Robin DiAngelo to actually pay reparations one-to-one to your black director,” Gutfeld told Walsh. 
<h3>Tim Pool</h3>
Podcaster Tim Pool called Walsh’s documentary an “edgy, funny comedy” and “some of the most effective activism.”
“Daily Wire has actually hit the nail on the head with this stuff,” he said. 
<h3>Roseanne Barr</h3>
Comedian and actress Roseanne Barr told Walsh that he is “doing the right thing by making a funny movie.” 
“That’s really the way to reach people … by doing something funny,” Barr added. 
<h3>Charlie Kirk</h3>
Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk called “Am I Racist?” “infinitely brilliant” and “a phenomenal film.” 
<h3>The New Yorker</h3>
The New Yorker, a leftist magazine, also said Walsh’s film is “something a red-pilled Sacha Baron Cohen might make,” adding, “The biggest coup of ‘Am I Racist?’ is the interview that Walsh scores with Robin DiAngelo.” 
<h3>The Hollywood Reporter</h3>
Another leftist media outlet, The Hollywood Reporter, wrote that Walsh’s new film “seemingly came out of nowhere … the top opening for a political documentary since Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 two decades ago in 2004.”
“Am I Racist?” has also seen massive success at the box office and in the zeitgeist, quickly attaining a “Verified Hot” status on Rotten Tomatoes with a 97% audience score at more than 2500+ verified reviews, and an A CinemaScore.
The top-grossing documentary of the past decade comes to DailyWire+ on October 28. Become a <a href="https://www.amiracist.com/?_gl=1*1kw3r9d*_gcl_au*ODQ1NjYzNTg2LjE3Mjg5MDk3OTE.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTcyOTI2OTgzMy4yMy4xLjE3MjkyNjk4MzUuNTguMC4w">DailyWire+ member</a> to watch “Am I Racist?”.  
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Am I Racist? | Official Trailer" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/c7PA_kshZh0?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Here’s What Leading Media Voices Are Saying About The Decade’s #1 Documentary ‘Am I Racist?’

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