Netflix faces backlash for new Matt Rife special after controversial joke in last show

He thought the reaction was 'insane'

In 2023 the 28-year-old’s Netflix special ‘Natural Selection’ opened with an anecdote about a waitress with a black eye which fans said was in poor taste.

Rife joked: “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.’”

Rife came under heavy criticism at the time and in an interview with the New York Times he responded to the criticism saying it was ‘insane’.

"You’re mad at somebody that’s just trying to make you laugh? That’s such an insane concept to me."

He went on to say that victims of domestic violence had reached out to support him.

He said: “Whether it’s depression or a physical disability, not everyone wants to be seen as a victim.

“They also want to laugh at themselves. Sometimes people need to laugh to heal through the things that make them uncomfortable.”

However, Netflix have been slammed for releasing another show titled: ‘Matt Rife: Lucid – A Crowd Work Special’.

The show is Netflix’s first ever crown work special, which means the content is created by conversations had with Rife.

According to the streaming service, the special sees Rife get ‘up close and personal with an unpredictable Charlotte audience to riff on all thing’s dreams’.

Subscribers to the service took to social media to vent their frustrations telling the company they lacked ‘taste’ and have ‘no standards’.  

Meanwhile, another asked ‘who made that decision?’

However, fans of the comedian claimed the new show was ‘hilarious’ with some saying they’ve never ‘laughed that hard at a comedy special’.

The new special first aired on the streaming service on August 13.