Matt Rife’s Netflix special slammed for black eye domestic violence joke
Matt Rife at the Forbes Top 50 Creators Celebration. (Taylor Hill/Getty Images)
Self-proclaimed “physically attractive” comedian Matt Rife has sparked outrage after making a “gross” joke about a victim of domestic violence in his Netflix special.
Rife, whose Netflix special Natural Selection claims to “hold nothing back”, opened his hourlong set by taking aim at a waitress who served him in Baltimore with a black eye.
Recalling the incident, Rife was quick to push aside any concern for the waitress and make a joke at her expense.
He said: “And my boy, who I was with, was like, ‘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.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, but I feel like if she could cook, she wouldn’t have that black eye.”
The 28-year-old, who has 6.4 million followers on Instagram and more than 18.2 million followers on TikTok, explained he was testing the waters to see if the audience were “fun”.
He added: ”Figured we start the show with domestic violence, the rest of the show should be pretty smooth sailing.”
But his attempt to use domestic violence as the butt of a joke has seen him condemned by social media users who have accused him of “betraying his audience”.
One user pointed out that the majority of Rife’s audience are women and his joke at their expense was “gross”.
A digital creator specialising in self-defence and safety tips commented that Rife’s special left her “disappointed” as she couldn’t stand to watch more than three minutes of it.
Another TikToker recorded themselves turning off the TV after lasting only four minutes of his hour-long special.
Others took to X to revel in the “downfall” of Rife, while some alleged he has always been sexist.
Rife previously told the TODAY Show that being a “physically attractive” person didn’t help him as a comedian. He said that due to his good looks he was forced to “win people over more often”.
PinkNews has contacted Netflix and Rife for comment.
