Matt Rife Tried to Impress the Guys With His Misogyny. It Backfired

mathieu bitton

Matt Rife was so desperate to prove that he’s a manly man’s comedian that he opened his Netflix special with the oldest, tiredest domestic violence joke in the book.

Predictably, many of his female fans expressed their displeasure with the joke on social media, and rather than conceding that the joke was insensitive, or simply ignoring the conversation altogether, Rife answered his critics with a dismissive joke that appeared to mock the disability community. This only incited more disgust and anger, and probably cost Rife thousands of fans in the process. I just have to laugh.

If you’d heard of Rife, 28, before this special, it’s probably because his charming crowd-work videos kept popping up on TikTok, which is where he amassed his primarily female following, who left comments like “Matt rife rizz hits different” on his videos. Eventually his social media star rose high enough to get him a special on Netflix. Matt Rife: Natural Selection premiered last week on the streaming platform and soon shot to the number one spot on the list of most-watched TV shows. But Rife is not grateful to the women whose support launched him into Netflix-special-level success. Instead he’s resentful of them for giving people the impression that he’s a comedian for girls.

In an effort to win some of that prized masculine attention, Rife began his big set with a little old-school misogyny, a joke about a hostess with a black eye. “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,’” Rife said. “And I was like, ‘Yeah, but I feel like if she could cook, she wouldn’t have that black eye.’” Guffaw, I guess.

The idea that Rife is trying to change his brand isn’t a leap, by the way. Rife has literally said he doesn’t want to make comedy for women.

The week before his special began streaming, Rife told Variety: “One thing that I wanted to tackle in this special was showing people that, like, despite what you think about me online, I don’t pander my career to women. I would argue this special is way more for guys.” Similarly, on the Chicks in the Office podcast, Rife said he attracts audiences of 90% women who “aren’t fans for the right reasons,” who quickly realize his shtick isn't for them. “So, they bring their boyfriends or husbands who are always reluctant because they fuckin’ probably bought the tickets. They didn’t wanna be there, and then like 20 minutes into the show, they realize my comedy is so much more for guys than it is girls.”

And what better way to impress the guys than repurposing everybody’s great-grandfather’s favorite women-belong-in-the-kitchen joke?

Unfortunately for Rife, his gambit to rebrand himself as an edgily sexist anti-woke comic backfired spectacularly, as the internet is now awash with jokes about how he was never funny to begin with, that he was skating on his looks, and accusations of pick-me-ism. Ironically, this is a lot like what it’s actually like to be a woman on the internet.

“Matt Rife canceling himself by trying to appeal to men is hilarious to me,” reads one tweet. “I’m crying at everyone realizing that Matt Rife isn’t funny after watching his Netflix special and coming to the realization that he’s only good at the crowd work he posts on TikTok lmaoo,” reads another. “I could make a thread of funny tweets that will have longer lasting legacies than Matt Rife,” wrote another X user.

One fellow comedian on TikTok said in a video, “Imagine throwing away millions of dollars and fans who like you to cater to unfunny white dudes.”

Drew Afualo, who rose to TikTok fame by hilariously dragging misogynists who showed up on her page, also weighed in. “If I’m telling jokes and the only people laughing with me are men whose whereabouts on January 6 are currently in question, someone check me into a fucking hospital, bitch,” Afualo joked.

Now that is funny.

Originally Appeared on Glamour