Comedian Matt Rife recently came under fire for a number of his jokes made in his Netflix special “Natural Selection.” Now, a clip of the once TikTok favorite comic on digital creator veteran Tana Mongeau and Brooke Schofield’s podcast “Cancelled” has resurfaced, with viewers now taking it into new consideration in light of the latest string of controversies attached to Rife.
In the clip, Rife says that he had an “epiphany” that all of his “haters” and critics are simply jealous of him. He justifies this school of thought by elaborating that he once felt the same towards some people he felt were in a better place in their respective lives than he was. Mongeau appears surprised by this bold claim, and goes on to point out the perceived fallacy of his argument by asking him if all of Osama Bin Laden’s critics are jealous of him. Bin Laden founded the terrorist organization al Qaeda, who committed the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, and several others. His role in the organization lead to his execution in 2011. Rife then responds an emphatic, “yes,” to Mongeau’s point, joking that “everyone wants to be the guy with the button,” shocking audiences.
crying over Matt Rife on Tana’s podcast looking like an idiot pic.twitter.com/HErfKKv12p
— krista! 🎨🔗 in bio 🫶🏻 (@gardeningbabe) November 25, 2023
Now, critics are revisiting the full episode on Mongeau and Schofield’s podcast searching for clues on how fans could have missed Rife’s alleged true intentions in comedy all along.
Rife’s claims on the podcast have only further insinuated to his harshest critics that he has always intended to pivot to catering his content towards a male audience by way of misogynistic jokes.
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The resurfaced episode was first released five months ago. The comedian came under fire last week for opening his Netflix comedy special “Natural Selection” with a joke about domestic violence. Instead of apologizing following the mass backlash he continues to receive, Rife posted an Instagram story that appeared to insult people with disabilities.
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The post, which was intended as a joke, is now being slammed for its perceived ableism. The comedian posted a photo of himself from the special, captioned “if you’ve ever been offended by a joke I’ve told–here’s a link to my official apology.” The link, labeled “tap to solve your issue”, redirects Instagram users to a listing for “special needs” helmets. This was intended to insinuate that any of his critics must have something wrong with them, and also an insult to those living with disabilities. The term “special needs” has been widely condemned by disability rights activists in recent years, and is often perceived to be offensive.
@samanthafekete
The response comes after Rife’s opening punchline for the Netflix special. The joke entailed a story about a restaurant hostess who had a black eye, which Rife quips she must have gotten from a man she could not cook for. The layered trivialization of domestic violence and perceived sexism have shrouded the Netflix special with criticism. Ahead of its release, Rife spoke about his intention to make the special more for a male audience, after primarily women flocked to his stand up shows nationwide.
@debbydesperado He ate with that one Wednesday Addams joke a year ago and that wasnt even him, that was cause a baddie stole the show #netflix #mattrife
Rife is yet to apologize for his number of offensive remarks at this time.
