Comedy Central's The Daily Show decided that what America really needed on a Wednesday night was a self-described communist explaining why shoplifting is actually kind of cool. Host Jordan Klepper welcomed filmmaker Boots Riley onto the May 14 broadcast to promote his new movie I Love Boosters, and the segment played out exactly as insane as that sounds.
Because nothing says "comedy" like celebrating the crime that's shutting down retail stores in every major blue city in America.
Klepper, doing his best impression of a man who's never had to worry about his local CVS locking up the toothpaste, lobbed Riley the softest of softballs. "For people who haven't seen this, what is I Love Boosters?" he asked, as though they were discussing a charming indie rom-com.
Riley didn't disappoint. "Well, boosters are folks that shoplift and sell at a discount price," he explained cheerfully. Then he got personal. "As a broke rapper for many decades, I have definitely had to have around me in order to stay fly because staying fly is part of the job requirement." That's right — he admitted to relying on stolen goods and framed it as a professional necessity. On national television. At 11:26 PM ET on a Thursday night.
The film, which hits theaters May 22, is set in the Bay Area and follows a crew of women who steal from luxury fashion stores and resell the goods at a discount to people who "can't afford retail." It stars Keke Palmer, LaKeith Stanfield, Naomi Ackie, and Demi Moore. So this isn't some no-budget vanity project — Hollywood went all in.
Klepper's take on the movie was perhaps the most revealing moment. He described it as "sort of a Pee-Wee's Big Adventure if it were directed by Karl Marx." He said that like it was a compliment. Because on The Daily Show in 2026, comparing your guest's work to Karl Marx is apparently a selling point.
And let's be clear about who Boots Riley is. This isn't some guy who leans a little left. Riley is an open, proud, self-identified communist. He's previously claimed the American flag represents "oppression, slavery, and murder." He has stated that the purpose of his art is to "instigate class struggle." This is not subtext. He just says it out loud.
As NewsBusters' Alex Christy flagged in his coverage of the segment, this is Comedy Central literally giving a promotional platform to a communist filmmaker whose movie glorifies organized retail theft — the same crime wave that has cost American retailers billions and forced thousands of store closures. But sure, let's make it into a fun heist movie with A-list actors.
Riley told Klepper he "wanted to write about stuff from the perspective of these folks," meaning the shoplifters. Not the store owners who lose their livelihoods. Not the workers who get laid off when locations close. Not the communities that become retail deserts. The thieves. Those are the heroes of this story.
The timing is exquisite. Walgreens has shuttered dozens of locations in San Francisco alone. Target has closed stores citing theft losses. Entire shopping districts in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York have become no-go zones for retailers who can't absorb the losses anymore. And Hollywood's response is to make a feel-good movie about the people doing the stealing.
This is what happens when an entire cultural machine — late-night TV, Hollywood studios, streaming platforms — decides that crime is only a problem when Republicans talk about it. The rest of the time, it's art. It's social commentary. It's a Karl Marx-directed Pee-Wee's Big Adventure.
We used to put people in jail for shoplifting. Now we put them in movies.