Matt Rife has responded to backlash over a domestic violence joke in his new special, Natural Selection.
Rife, 28, posted on his Instagram Story: “If you’ve ever been offended by a joke I’ve told – here’s a link to my official apology.” The link in the post led to a website where helmets sold for people with special needs.
A joke from Natural Selection that premiered on Netflix last week was widely criticized for downplaying domestic violence. The part in question centered on a woman with a black eye who took his order at a restaurant in Baltimore.
“And my boy that I was with was like, ‘Yeah, I feel sorry for her, man. I feel like they should put her in the kitchen or somewhere where no one has to see her face, you know?'” Rife said during the special. “And I thought, ‘Yeah, but I feel like if she could cook, she wouldn’t have that black eye,'” suggesting that the woman’s inability to cook led to her abuse.
Matt Rife.
Taylor Hill/Getty
“I think we start the show with domestic violence, the rest of the show should go pretty smoothly after that,” Rife said later in the special.
Rife went viral on TikTok last year, selling around 600,000 tickets for his ProbleMATTic World Tour in just 48 hours. He has tour dates booked in the USA, Canada, Europe and Australia until October 2024.
Rife previously appeared on shows such as Wild ‘n Out, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Fresh Off the Boat. This year he released two more specials titled “Matthew Steven Rife” and “Walking Red Flag.”
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