Matt Rife stirs backlash with domestic abuse joke, responds with link to medical helmets | CNN:
Comedian Matt Rife is doubling down on his humor.
The comic, who gained popularity on TikTok and has appeared on shows like “Wild N’Out” and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” has stirred controversy with a bit about domestic violence in his recent Netflix special, “Matt Rife: Natural Selection.”
The set includes a joke about a female server at a restaurant having a black eye.
“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, ya know?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, but I feel like if she could cook, she wouldn’t have that black eye,’” Rife said.
Funny joke. Plays on stereotypes. Don’t like it or him, move along.
There are plenty of comedians whose humor I don’t care for. I don’t typically find the humor offensive since my threshold for offense is set pretty high when it comes to comedy. Some jokes land, some don’t. Even for those that don’t, I usually can figure out where the attempt at humor is coming from.
The humor didn’t go over well with some, which Rife appeared to anticipate as he followed up the joke by saying, “I figure if we start the show with domestic violence the rest of the show should be smooth sailing.”
After a clip of joke circulated on social media and drew criticism, Rife responded on Instagram Stories.
“If you’ve ever been offended by a joke I’ve told, here’s a link to my official apology. Tap to solve the issue,” linking to a site which sells helmets to protect against head trauma for individuals with special needs.
This is also the right response. These people need to get over themselves. If you’re offended, go watch a different comedian. I don’t know anything about Matt Rife, but edgy comedy seems to be his thing. If it’s not yours, find another comedian.