Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: Film and TV, Instagram, Netflix, Social Media, Twitter, Matt Rife
Poppy Bilderbeck
Topics: Film and TV, Instagram, Netflix, Social Media, Twitter, Matt Rife
American comedian Matt Rife's response to backlash he faced for his Netflix show's domestic violence joke has sparked even more outrage.
Rife dove straight into his Netflix comedy special Natural Selection with a controversial joke. And it definitely didn't go down well, with many viewers flooding to social media to condemn the gag.
Rife's since hit back at the comments, although, it's done nothing to soothe the rage against him, simply adding fuel to the fire.
Bear in mind, the video below contains a joke about domestic violence:
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The 'joke' takes place early on in his comedy special, Rife figuring he'd 'start the show with domestic violence' so the 'rest of the show' goes 'pretty smooth sailing' and to test what sort of audience he had.
Rife tells a story about being in a restaurant in Baltimore and being served by a waitress with a black eye.
He continues: "But we couldn’t get over, like, this is the face of the company? This is who you have greeting people?
"And 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.'
"And I was like, ‘Yeah, but I feel like if she could cook, she wouldn’t have that black eye.'
"Of course I felt bad for her. She should have had her protection crystals, you know what I mean?"
The audience at the gig may've laughed, but people online certainly aren't.
It didn't take long for viewers to flood to social media to condemn Rife for the joke.
One X user said: "Oof... that's pandering to the lowest of the low."
Another added: "'To see if you are fun or not'. If I need to put up with jokes about being punched in the face for not being a good enough servant, then I'm completely unbothered if you don't find me 'fun'."
A third commented: "I mean…It’s pretty simple, and not at all hard, comedians. Domestic violence is *never* a joke. Certainly not one to be used as a ‘comedy’ show audience litmus test."
However, Rife quickly hit back at the critics.
Taking to his Instagram account, the comedian uploaded a picture of himself on stage, alongside the caption: "If you've ever been offended by a joke I've told - here's a link to my official apology."
And the link - titled 'Tap to solve your issue' - leads to a Medical Shop page for 'Special Needs Helmets'.
And there's no surprise over how that went down with social media users.
A X user wrote: "Matt Rife’s team either has no clue what he’s doing or they’re just as idiotic as him because this is an INSANE response (note the link to special needs helmets).
"This guy is truly not smart enough to be funny."
UNILAD has contacted Rife and Netflix for comment.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, please know that you are not alone. You can talk in confidence 24 hours a day to the national domestic violence helpline Refuge on 0808 2000 247