Matt Rife Faces Backlash Over New Netflix Special Natural Selection

Comedian Matt Rife recently released his first Netflix special, Natural Selection. Despite his growing fame, some of his fans don’t agree with the set he prepared for the special.

Rife made a “joke” regarding a Maryland hostess having a black eye, which Rife infers she received because she’s not able to cook. Viewers felt the stand-up special disregarded domestic violence and instead made a mockery of it. Before the special was released, Rife made it clear that his jokes were intended for a male audience, although his typical audience seems to be mostly women.

I got through about 17 minutes of Matt Rife’s comedy special. He’s painfully unfunny. I don’t care how good his crowd work is his Netflix special put my funny bone to sleep. I like dark humor but I wouldn’t call his humor dark. It’s more hostile I guess? Anyway. He’s a bore.

— Meredith (@KiwiBreeder) November 27, 2023

At the beginning of his career, Rife’s jokes about relationships, childhood, and sexuality were seen as refined. That was until he began to make controversial comments, even months before the release of his Netflix special. The comedian then goes on to ridicule women’s interest in astrology and crystals and how they blame their life outcomes on Mercury, which many found insulting.

Rife appeared on the podcast Stiff Stocks and explained his type in women. Viewers saw it as an insult to the female anatomy, and people have continued to call him misogynistic since the podcast episode was released. However, the creators of the podcast stated that it was just “guys being guys” while defending Rife in the comments.

I still can’t believe Netflix execs really approved of that Matt rife comedy special… like was there a single woman in the room???

— gia (@everydaygia) November 21, 2023

Rife, despite being somewhat of a hothead, is only reposting positive comments on his special. For now, the comedian has not addressed the online disputes. Fans want him to stick to his crowdwork rather than make digs at women, which serve no purpose in driving the jokes forward.