Right-wing podcaster Matt Walsh reportedly caught trying to trick trans people into being interviewed for anti-trans documentary
Transgender activist Eli Erlick revealed Monday that right-wing podcaster Matt Walsh was behind a documentary for which Erlick and several other individuals received misleading requests to be interviewed, The Daily Beast reported.
Erlick tweeted Monday that Walsh's "crew is trying to trick trans people into joining a fake documentary. His producers set up a whole front organization" called the Gender Unity Project "and tried to recruit me into his next anti-trans documentary."
Erlick followed up with screenshots of emails from the film's associate producer "Makenna Lynn," who she later learned was really Makenna Lynn Waters, a producer on The Matt Walsh Show. The Gender Unity Project, Erlick said, turned out to be registered to right-wing documentarian Justin Folk.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Erlick said "at least nine people have personally told her that Walsh's team approached them, and that one actually filmed scenes for the deceptive documentary" and spoke with Walsh personally, the Beast reports.
According to Erlick, those contacted included transgender MMA fighters Fallon Fox and Alana McLaughlin, several surgeons who provide gender-affirming care, and Debi Jackson, whose 14-year-old transgender daughter appeared on the cover of National Geographic.
Waters reportedly told Jackson the film would "not include any bigotry" in an effort to convince her and her daughter to be interviewed.
Walsh, who works for Ben Shapiro's conservative media company The Daily Wire, has become one of the most prominent anti-trans voices on the right. Last month, he appeared on Dr. Phil to debate two trans activists.
"I could sit here and say that I feel like a tomato plant, but that doesn't mean I actually am," Walsh said on the show.
Walsh also wrote a children's book that uses a boy who thinks he's a walrus as an allegory for transgender youth.
He tweeted last month that he was preparing an "assault on gender ideology" that would make the Dr. Phil appearance "seem tame and boring by comparison."
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Modern Age, The American Conservative, The Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.
-
Paloma recipe: the cocktail of the summer
The Week Recommends This refreshing drink balances the fresh and fizzy taste of grapefruit soda with a subtle flavour of smooth tequila
By Rebekah Evans, The Week UK Published
-
Mushroom edibles are tripping up users
the explainer The psychedelics can sometimes have questionable components
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Prisons are simply not prepared for extreme heat
Under the radar Inmates are at severe risk of heat-related illness
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Menendez convicted of bribery, fraud, and extortion
Speed Read The New Jersey Democratic Senator was found guilty in a federal corruption trial
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Florida judge dismisses Trump documents case
Speed Read Judge Aileen Cannon ruled that special counsel Jack Smith was improperly appointed
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?
Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Hamas says military chief survived Israeli strike
Speed Read An Israeli bombing failed to hit its intended target, military commander Mohammed Deif, but killed at least 90 Palestinians
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Biden, Trump urge calm after assassination attempt
Speed Reads A 20-year-old gunman grazed Trump's ear and fatally shot a rally attendee on Saturday
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
First Israeli report on Oct. 7 finds 'severe mistakes and errors' in IDF response
Speed Reads Israeli military admits failures in response to deadly Hamas attack that triggered Gaza war
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Biden saw neurologist during physicals
Speed Read Following his bad debate performance, many are asking questions about the president's brain
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Russia bombs Kyiv children's hospital
Speed Reads The daytime barrage interrupted heart surgeries and killed at least 40 people
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published