Matt Rife is one of the hottest names in comedy right now.
With his devilish looks that women love, great crowd work, and his crass jokes, the comedy scene is split on their opinion of him. While many (especially young women) have loved him from the start, there’s another side who says they never thought he was that funny, and he is still a topic of conversation after the release of his new standup special.
Matt Rife: Natural Selection dropped on Netflix last week, and unsurprisingly, he is getting slammed for the type of jokes he told on stage. Why? Because it’s 2023, and people who don’t even watch standup comedy are deeply, deeply offended by it (and everything else).
If you need a taste of what to expect, here’s a look at the trailer:
With a title like that… I feel like that is a warning sign for offensive material. Like what did you think you were signing up for? Nevertheless, Matt Rife is addressing the backlash he received from his Netflix stand-up special with… another joke.
One of the bits that has people up in arms combines domestic abuse and women being in the kitchen, and after dropping the punch line, he says to the crowd:
“Testing the water, seeing if y’all are going to be fun or not.”
Matt rife is so painfully unfunny you’d think after growing up being ugly he would at least have a good humour or something 💀 pic.twitter.com/YkdNUb3FZf
— zar 🛸 (@zarbruh_) November 21, 2023
After seeing the comments from some viewers deeming his jokes as directive and insensitive, Rife took to his social media to address the comments. But instead of the apology people wanted, he doubled down and trolled the comedy haters who were unhappy with the special. He posted to his Instagram story a picture with the caption:
“If you’ve ever been offended by a joke I’ve told, here’s a link to my official apology.”
Below that link for story viewers to tap that said “tap to solve your issue.” If you tapped on the link, it took you to a purchase link for special needs helmets from Medicaleshopy.
Comedian Matt Rife is facing backlash after posting a fake apology link on Instagram.
Intended for those offended by jokes in his Netflix special, he actually linked to a website selling special needs helmets. pic.twitter.com/b6c8lpNe41
— Dexerto (@Dexerto) November 21, 2023
Pretty funny…
The second the post went live, Twitter blew up with comments.
Many fans of comedy, those who understand that the point of watching a standup special is to hear someone say the stuff you’re “not supposed to say,” pushing the boundaries of humor and human observation to a place that makes you uncomfortable… those pro-comedy folks took Rife’s side. Meanwhile others were even more “offended” that Rife doubled down on the material.
Quite the mixed bag of commentary, but pretty hilarious nonetheless:
Just got my helmet in the mail. Thanks Matt Rife! pic.twitter.com/vd9meRAFR0
— Dan Carney (@DanManCarney) November 21, 2023
Ok, that’s hilarious…
The internet when a comedian makes a joke out of people pic.twitter.com/PTdW1Dn6MS
— Highfivelol (@highfivelol) November 21, 2023
Is Matt Rife actually funny or are you just horny and seeing a good jawline for the first time
— Joey 🔜 ATLiens and Eptic (@svddenstache) November 21, 2023
Nah this is funny 😭
— ѕнα∂ყ™ 🥀 (@9illeh) November 21, 2023
Matt Rife the type of guy to tell you how EDM is the most influential genre of the past few decades and if you disagree with him he'll just say you wouldn't understand because you are a woman
— maggie ♥ (@trumanslack) November 21, 2023
.@mattrife if i hold you too close to a fire will your chin implant melt
— bonnie darko IS SEEING MCR (@ACT10NC4T) November 21, 2023
Matt Rife getting canceled for a really old domestic violence joke is hilarious. Why do people watch comedy if you're going to cry about any joke that might offend you. It's their fucking job.
— Grindcoremademedoit (@gimmesumgore) November 21, 2023
I’m going on record to say #mattrife ‘s Netflix special is one of the UNfunniest things I have watched.
— Cocadoodle (@NurseyNoodles) November 21, 2023
the way women catapulted matt rife into popularity and the second he gets a comedy special on netflix he immediately betrays them with a joke about domestic violence
crazy innit
— kay 🍄 (@akhasarya) November 20, 2023
I don’t know what anyone ever saw in Matt Rife he literally can’t grow a beard no thanks
— ann (@annnniethuy) November 21, 2023
As a Matt Rife hater from day 1, I don't understand the argument of "he only got famous because he's attractive" when he literally looks like this pic.twitter.com/ZhZyDbPfa7
— 𝔊𝔦𝔤𝔦 (@girlsnotgreyjoy) November 20, 2023
