Matt Rife

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About

Matt Rife is an American standup comedian known for his self-produced comedy specials released on YouTube, as well as his 2023 Netflix special Natural Selection. His last comedy special became the subject of online discussion after the comedian received backlash over a joke that many perceived as making fun of domestic violence, centering on a waitress with a black eye.

History

Early Career

Matt Rife first took interestin comedy at age 14 in the early 2010s, when a teacher said there would be a talent show at his high school.^[1] His earliest content related to comedy was a video uploaded to his YouTube^[2] on May 22nd, 2013, in which he received a standing ovation "At The Bay Area Black Comedy Competition." The video (shown below) amassed more than 148,000 views and 4,100 likes in a decade.

Matt Rife: Natural Selection Netflix Special

On November 15th, 2023, the comedian released the hour-long special Matt Rife: Natural Selection^[3]. On November 9th, 2023, Netflix uploaded a trailer (shown below) for the special show, which amassed more than 192,000 views and 2,800 likes in a month.

Criticisms

Matt Rife Domestic Violence Joke Controversy

After Rffe's Netflix special premiered on the streaming service, numerous social media users attempted to cancel Rife for telling a joke perceived as making fun of domestic violence, as discourse ensued on sites and platforms like Twitter / X and TikTok. The joke was recorded and posted to TikTok^[4] by user @debbydesperado on November 19th, 2023, with text overlay reading, "Pretty privilege can't excuse his jokes for much longer." In three days, the video received over 4.2 million plays and 80,900 likes (shown below).

@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 ♬ original sound – 📺

Personal Life

Matt Rife currently lives in Los Angeles, California. He mentioned in his comedy special Only Fans (2021) that he had clinical depression and an anxiety disorder.

Matt Rife Jawline Surgery Controversy

Matt Rife Jawline Surgery Controversy refers to a feud between comedian Matt Rife and plastic surgeon and influencer Many Faces of Chicago (real name Dr. Benjamin Caughlin, username @manyfacesofchicago) in late November 2023.

Although @manyfacesofchicago's video didn't mention the name of the patient who had the plastic surgery, comedian Matt Rife commented on the doctor's Instagram repost the same day it was shared, November 28th, 2023, saying, "Lying about medical history is illegal, just FYI." Rife's comment (seen below) then received over 310 likes and 1,100 replies in roughly 24 hours.