Matt Rife has been called out by a former partner for publicly ‘body shaming’ her hours after they slept together.
The comedian, who was recently blasted for a domestic violence joke he made in his Netflix comedy special, was called out by his ex, Brooke Schofield, co-host of the popular ‘Cancelled with Tana Mongeau’ podcast.
In a recent episode, Schofield said that she had still been actively seeing Rife in February and had slept with him just hours before he appeared on an episode of the “Stiff Socks” podcast.
“I was excited to watch it. I was like, ‘I’m going to watch my man on a podcast!’" she said.
She explained that, when Rife was asked what his ‘type’ of woman was, he replied with “blondes with fake tits”. Schofield clarified that she had brunette hair and “fucking real tits”.
“He goes on to say that he is disgusted by ‘outie’ vaginas, like, girls who have ‘outie’ vaginas, because ‘It looks like God left the tag on them,'” Schofield recalled. "Now, I’m going to give you guys the ‘Cancelled’ exclusive here, but I, Brooke Schofield, have an ‘outie’ vagina, OK? And so do fucking two-thirds of America!
“Imagine how I felt, he literally just went on a podcast and was like, ‘Yeah, I’m fucking repulsed by this bitch.’”
The comments made by Rife appear approximately 56 minutes into the “Stiff Socks” episode. “Am I supposed to fuck you or thumb wrestle you?” he said. "I don’t love a giant clit. I don’t want to look down and feel like God left the tag on you…I don’t want your pussy to look like the gum from ‘Sausage Party.’”
An ‘outie’ vagina refers to when the inner labia (the labia minora) are longer than the outer labia (labia majora) which means the labia minora can be seen or felt on the outside of the vulva. According to one 2017 study, this is the most common type of vagina.
If the name ‘Matt Rife’ doesn't ring a bell, let us enlighten you. Up until earlier this year, he was largely popular among young women and girls, via TikTok. After going viral in 2021, he became an internet crush for thousands. The viral video in question was a clip from a standup show where he roasted an audience member who broke up with her boyfriend, an emergency room worker, to which Rife said: “Oh, I’m sorry – you broke up with a hero?” Now, he has a Netflix special titled Natural Selection.
‘Crowd work’ with women, often with sexual or flirty undertones, became his modus operandi. It is women, after all, who predominantly attend his shows. Many cite his ‘hotness’ for making him popular, as much as his comedic timing.
Another popular video, titled ‘Cookies & MILF’, shows him interacting with a fan called Christina, who is wearing an “I came to Iowa and all I got was this T-shirt and a blowjob” shirt – and gives him homemade cookies. He eats one on stage, calls her hot and jokes: “Listen guys, I’ve never ended a show early before.” At the time of writing this, he has 18.1M followers on TikTok (100,000 less than two months ago).
His ascent to a Netflix special isn't that of a typical comic; he isn't a household name, and it has been released before his (sold-out) world tour ends. But, the streaming giants were clearly tapping into his huge fanbase. Consisting of, let us say again, mostly women.
It's strange then, that in an interview with Variety he said: “I don’t pander my career to women. I would argue this special is way more for guys.” The phrase ‘Don’t bite the hand that feeds you' springs to mind.
In the same interview, the Ohio native said, “I don’t really adhere to this whole sensitivity rumour in the comedy world that you can’t say anything anymore. That’s bullshit. You can say whatever you want. Now, you have to prepare for repercussions. But at the end of the day, it all comes down to how do you sleep at night. You know what I mean?” So, let's get into some of those repercussions, shall we?
Rife begins his hour-long set, which was filmed in Washington DC, with a joke that uses domestic violence as its punchline. The anecdote is set at a restaurant in “ratchet” Baltimore, where he says, “The hostess who seats you had a black eye. A full black eye. It wasn't like, 'What happened?' It was pretty obvious what happened,” he continued. “But we couldn't get over, like, this is the face of the company? This is who you have greeting people?”
The bit continues, “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 says. “And I was like, 'Yeah, but I feel like if she could cook, she wouldn't have that black eye.’”
That's right, the opening joke of his Netflix special is a joke about domestic abuse – how a woman got a black eye because she can't cook. The layers of misogyny in this one section feels intentional, as does its positioning in the hour: Rife is laying out his cards right away. And those cards say: ‘This is for men, and I think men want misogyny.’ It's not only offensive to domestic abuse survivors and women, but also to the men he is apparently trying to cater for – this comedian clearly thinks men want inane, dated, unoriginal jokes that are full of hatred towards women. It's not very creative, is it?
In response to the criticism over his special, of which there has been much, the comedian posted an Instagram Story – directing people who may have been “offended by a joke I told” to his “official apology” that was labelled, “Tap to solve your issue”. The link led to a website selling helmets for people with special needs. Apparently, Rife is not only misogynistic, but also ableist!
Society talks a lot about ‘pick me’ women, but what about ‘pick me’ men? The men who are so desperate to impress ‘the boys’, aka Patriarchy, that they will do so at the expense of women. And in Rife's case, his lucrative and dedicated audience of women. He is attempting to bond with a male audience through misogyny, and it fails. Not only because that premise is a flawed one, but because the joke was not funny.
Rife's aim with Natural Selection was clearly to distance himself from being a comedian women like, and – given his many interviews about how hard it is to be good-looking, but that he doesn't see himself as good-looking – that he's more than just his looks. This in itself is misogynistic – because what's wrong with a fanbase of women?
GLAMOUR has contacted Matt Rife's representatives for comment.
For more from Freelance Journalist Chloe Laws, follow her @chloegracelaws.
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