Rife-Wing Misogyny

"Canceled" comedians sure get a lot of air time

In November, the comedian Matt Rife released his first Netflix special, “Natural Selection.” Early in the show, he cracked a domestic violence joke many people took offense to. Since then, he's clapped back online—including at a six-year-old boy—and published a fake apology linking to helmets for people with disabilities.

Given our current social climate, the next sentence writes itself: he’s been embraced by right-wing pundits who scream “cancel culture” as a calling card.

Enter Rife appearing with Jordan Peterson.

I’m not going to address Rife’s original joke, because while I personally find it in bad taste, a comedian doesn’t have to believe the things they say in order to make people laugh. As he tells Peterson, everyone in the crowd—a largely female crowd—laughed along. The uproar ensued later.

A joke about a waitress with a black eye doesn’t make Rife a misogynist. But everything he’s done since sure points in that direction.

Isn’t it ironic

Lifestyle influencer Bunny Hedaya posted a video of her six-year-old son responding to Rife about a different joke. Her son loves outer space, and he pointed out that Saturn, not Jupiter, has rings. Hedaya didn’t tag Rife, really didn’t know much about him, so she was surprised when this comment landed.

Hedaya cut a reply video, pointing out, among other things, that she’s never made a dollar from a man for showing her body (and qualifying the statement by saying there’s nothing wrong with women who do). 

Rife’s knee-jerk response reveals a misogynistic attitude more than his special: here’s an attractive and successful woman, she must be selling nudes.

The real irony hits when Rife tells Peterson the following about people who come after him for his comedy:

If you're on this earth for such a limited amount of time, how insane is it to sit behind your phone and computer and complain about something you don’t like when you have a world at your hands? Of all the things you do, like, what an absolute waste of energy, time, and emotion.

I’m not sure Rife will ever connect this sentiment to clapping back at a six-year-old boy. But lack of irony is a theme in his discussion with Peterson, which we now turn to.