Indeed, comedy has the power to not only entertain but lift people’s spirits. However, in several instances, comedy is widely known to spark controversy. Take the popular comedian Matt Rife for example. After a staggering rise to the top, he has constantly found himself garnering backlash every other day.
It all began following an insensitive joke that touched on the topic of domestic violence. This event occurred during his Netflix Special, Natural Selection. However, as laughter erupted in the hall, backlash brewed online. Since then, many other of his “jokes” have been scrutinized for never quite landing right. Here’s a handful of them.
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The Infamous Predator Joke
During his Netflix Special Natural Selection, Matt Rife spoke about the frustration of having a noisy and restless child on a long flight. He joked that he once got so frustrated with a crying child… so frustrated that he almost pretended to be a sexual predator to get the child away from him and quiet. “I was this close to leaning over to the dad and being like ‘Can you get your sexy ass kid away from me?’” he said.
It should be reiterated that under no circumstance are jokes about being a pedophile funny. Therefore, Rife’s twisted comments quickly came under fire. Moreover, social media users have concluded that Matt Rife targets women and children in the hopes of building a predominantly male fan base. Needless to say, his words were inexcusable.
Comments On The Stiff Socks Podcast
Believe it or not, Matt Rife blew up thanks to his once largely female fanbase. That’s why it has come as a shock that he seems to regularly make fun of women. In early 2023, he went on a tirade on the Stiff Socks podcast about women’s bodies. A particular segment caught the attention of many people. “Am I supposed to f**k you or thumb wrestle?” he asked. “I don’t love a giant cl*t. I don’t wanna look down and feel like God left a tag on you,” he said. His body shaming continued with the line, “I just don’t want your p*ssy to look like the gum from Sausage Party. You know what I mean?” Unsurprisingly, this caused a stir.
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Jupiter Has (No) Rings?
Matt Rife’s comedy special seemed to have propagated another “joke” that only he seems to be in on and no one else understands. In December 2023, TikTok creator Bunny Hedaya posted a video claiming that Matt had beef with her 6-year-old son. Hedaya had previously posted a video of her son reacting to Natural Selection where something caught the young boy’s attention. While talking about women who blame astrology for everything, Matt stated: “It has nothing to do with stars, man. Just because Jupiter has a ring and you don’t, doesn’t mean that you're supposed to look up to it for this magical advice.”
Hedaya’s son then responded in her video: “Actually, it’s Saturn that has the rings. It has more visible rings also.” Matt Rife evidently couldn’t handle being corrected by a child. In a now-deleted Instagram comment, he wrote: “Jupiter also has a ring. OH!... and Santa Claus isn't real. Your mom buys you presents with the money she makes on OnlyFans. Good luck.”
A Mock Apology
Following the major backlash he received for his Netflix comedy special, Matt Rife decided to post an apology. On November 20, 2023, Matt shared a picture of himself on his Instagram story alongside the caption: “If any of my jokes have ever offended you, check out my official apology at this link.” As a result, many of Matt’s social media followers and onlookers were glad that he had seemed to reconsider his choice of jokes and had posted an apology.
However, when users clicked on the link, it redirected them to a health website where they had the option to purchase specialized helmets designed for special needs. This was Matt doubling down on his joke and not apologizing at all. Instead, he offended a new set of minorities with this joke.
Jokes About Domestic Violence
To kick off his controversial comedy special, Matt recounted an incident at Baltimore restaurant. There, they saw a female server sporting a black eye. Sharing the uncomfortable observation, Matt narrates: "It wasn't like, 'What happened?' It was pretty obvious what happened... My buddy, who was with me, commented, 'Yeah, I feel bad for her, man. I feel like they should put her in the kitchen or something where nobody has to see her face, you know?' And I was like, 'Yeah, but I feel like if she could cook, she wouldn't have that black eye.'"
In an attempt to gauge the audience's receptiveness, he jested: "I'm just testing the waters, seeing if y'all are gonna be fun or not... I figure if we start the show with domestic violence, the rest of the show should be smooth sailing." So in summary, he stated that those who didn’t laugh at the joke were not fun. As is the fate of any poorly received, offensive, and unfunny joke, Matt has since faced significant, and well-warranted backlash.
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