The recently launched Netflix special of comedian Matt Rife, “Matt Rife: Natural Selection,” has grabbed the second spot as the most-watched show aired on the streaming platform this week after calls for Netflix to pull the special spread online with some saying the stand-up special was offensive.
Despite sparking outrage with a domestic violence joke that marked the start of his set, the special show has managed to pull in 7.4 million views since its release on November 15, coming in second to the most-watched English TV show of the week with 11.1 million views – The Crown.
Rife refused to back down to the complaints and supported the right to free speech in comedy, including to right to cause offense.
Despite the heated reactions critical of his humor, Rife’s reaction has been everything but remorseful.
Rife triggered additional furor with a peculiar Instagram story in response to his critics. His post showed a video of him on stage, paired with text that read, “If you’ve ever been offended by a joke I’ve told, here’s a link to my official apology video.”
Unexpectedly, in a further joke, the attached link led not to an apology but to a site selling special-needs helmets.
