Matt Rife's Most Cringey & Controversial Moments

Matt Rife seemingly became an overnight sensation on the internet in 2023 after people fell in love the comedian. After nearly a decade in the comedy business, Rife started posting his crowd work on his social media in 2022. One TikTok clip went particularly viral, skyrocketing his profile, and subsequently his career, into superstar territory. At the same rate he became famous, Rife saw his career take a dip after one offensive joke lost him many fans. He considers his comedy boundary pushing, but many people see it as insulting.

The comedian has addressed his style of humor before, letting people know that his content may not be for them. After publishing his 2024 memoir "Your Mom's Gonna Love Me," Rife spoke with Us Weekly about his controversial moments, which he says don't bother him. "It's comedy," he insisted. "Sometimes you don't hit the mark. Plenty of people think I did. Therefore it's not a failure." Even so, much of the internet will never be able to forget these cringey moments with Rife that have swallowed his career in controversy.

When his career took off, Matt Rife went from small comedy venues to giant stages around the globe on his 2023-2024 world tour, "ProbleMATTic." The comedy star even took on a new challenge, sharing his set with millions of viewers at home in his 2023 Netflix special, "Matt Rife: Natural Selection." Before this, many people online had probably only seen his hilarious crowd work, but none of his actual comedy. That may have been for the best, because Rife caused ire with a controversial domestic violence joke that went viral.

The special, which was shot in front of a Washington, D.C., crowd, began with Rife telling the audience about his grandfather's love for Maryland, before sharing his own negative feelings on Baltimore. The joke about the city went as follows: Rife and his friend were at a restaurant in Baltimore, where they saw a hostess with a black eye. After making a comment about keeping her in the kitchen, his punchline was, "I feel like if she could cook, she wouldn't have that black eye" (via YouTube). It wasn't the best way to warm up the crowd, and it certainly wasn't well received by fans at home.

His fanbase, largely women, were appalled. One X (formerly Twitter) user summed it up in their comments about the joke. "'Comedian' Matt Rife was catapulted to fame mostly due to women but as soon as he gets a special he lets his true nature come to light," they wrote. "Starting off [with a] joke [about] domestic violence & adding in some [ableist] 'jokes' really tells you who he is. He is a walking red flag." But instead of apologizing, Rife doubled down.

After the backlash over his Baltimore joke, Matt Rife promptly responded to the controversy in an Instagram Story with a not-so-sincere apology. He wrote on the November 2023 Story: "If you've ever been offended by a joke I've told — here's a link to my official apology," (via Page Six). The comedian ended the post with a link labeled "Tap to solve your issue," which, if clicked on, brought the viewer to a website called Medicaleshop, specifically on their page that sells special needs support helmets.

Many people were in disbelief, feeling his post was equally as offensive as the joke for which he was apologizing. "I used to like Matt rife but who the hell does he think his audience is?" one X user wrote. "First, the unfunny jokes about women in the kitchen and domestic violence and now making fun of the special needs community?" Others defended him, saying that it was just a joke and not to read into it. 

During a December 2023 show in Florida, Rife addressed his so-called apology, saying (via Naples Daily News): "The only reason I did a fake apology was because in what ... universe would I ever apologize for a joke. It's a joke. If you don't like it, you don't have to listen to it. You have to come to my show to be offended."

Matt Rife's fall from grace was huge in headlines. His once adored face was now being speculated to have cosmetic alterations. When a TikTok famous plastic surgeon, Dr. Benjamin Caughlin, MD, FACS, posted a video on the social media app claiming he worked on a comedian's jawline, many assumed that he was talking about Rife. Per Reddit, Rife left a comment on the Instagram upload of the video saying, "Lying about medical history is illegal, just FYI," proving to many fans that the comedian can dish it, but not take it.

His sensitivity to jokes was revealed even more so when he started fighting with a 6-year-old boy over TikTok. The boy's mom, Bunny Hedaya, posted a video on TikTok in December 2023, explaining how her son corrected one of Rife's jokes in his Netflix special, where he said that the planet Jupiter had a ring. "Actually it's Saturn that has the rings," Hedaya's space-loving kid responded, later adding, " ... and you're mean to girls."

Hedaya said (with receipts) that Rife commented on the video when it was cross-posted to Instagram, writing, "Jupiter also has ring. OH! ... and Santa [Claus] isn't real. Your mom buys you presents with the money she makes on OnlyFans." His claim that she does business on the subscription service website, which is often used by sex workers, particularly stood out to the mom, who said of his comment: "You can't accept the fact that people may like women for their personalities. We know you don't have one."

The sad fact about Matt Rife is that even though the comedian captured an entire fanbase made up of mostly women, he constantly insists that his content is mostly for guys. In a November 2023 interview with Variety, Rife said he intentionally catered his 2023 Netflix special toward men. "And that's one thing that I wanted to tackle in this special was showing people that like despite what you think about me online, I don't pander my career to women," he said. "I would argue this special is way more for guys."

The proof is in the pudding. Rife has made jokes at the expense of women, including his now infamous domestic violence comment, that don't sit well with his audience, and he's been called out for it online. "I think Matt Rife's special is so bad because he's trying SO hard to prove himself to other men through misogyny. It's desperate and sad," one X user wrote. Others didn't understand why Rife wanted a demographic of fans fine with misogynistic jokes. 

"It's like watching someone trying to pledge a frat," another X user replied. Even science educator and internet sweetheart Hank Green chimed in on the conversation, posting on X: "A comedian ruining his relationship with a large portion of his fanbase because he wanted to be like all of the other boring-ass Netflix Special 'You Cant Tell Jokes Anymore' crowd is actually just depressing."

After all the controversy that Matt Rife's career has endured, the comedian has settled in to his role as public enemy No. 1. But a few months before the drama from his "Natural Selection" special, Rife was already disliked by many. He went on internet sensations Tana Mongeau and Brooke Schofield's podcast "Cancelled" in June 2023 to talk about the hate he's received since becoming a famed comedian. "So many f**king people hate me for really no reason, and it really made me realize that people only hate somebody they're jealous of," he said on the podcast. That remark had a backstory, according to Rife, who said that his revelation is based on the times that he has disliked people out of jealousy.

Mongeau didn't have much to say regarding Rife's comment, except she did pose an interesting and hilariously cold question for Rife. "That was a really really good, well-rounded answer," she started. "I'm trying to wrap my head around — do you think people who hate Osama Bin Laden are jealous of him?" After she laughed at her rhetorical question, the comedian specified that, "There's a difference between hating and hating on someone," with Rife feeling he was a victim to the latter.