Why Matt Rife Has No Regrets About His Controversial Joke

Comedian Matt Rife made it very clear that he has no regrets — about anything.

“It’s comedy. Sometimes you don’t hit the mark. Plenty of people think I did,” Rife, 29, told Us Weekly exclusively while promoting his memoir, Your Mom’s Gonna Love Me, which was released on Tuesday, December 3. “Therefore, it’s not a failure.”

Rife was referring to his November 2023 Netflix special, Natural Selection, which garnered backlash after a joke about domestic violence kicked off the show. He addressed the comedy special — which is considered a major success and let to a second special on the streamer — in his newly released memoir.

“To me, ‘The Joke’ was just that — a joke. I wasn’t trying to make some kind of profound statement about the state of our society. I was trying to set the tone for the rest of the show via a personal spin on a classic joke,” he wrote, in part, noting that “practically overnight” he went from a TikTok sensation to “basically canceled.”

“Maybe it wasn’t to your taste. That’s fine. That happens. Not to me very often — but it happens,” Rife explained in his book. “But that doesn’t make me a supporter of domestic violence. I mean, Jesus — I grew up with an abusive stepdad. Verbal abuse, psychological abuse, physical abuse — I experienced it all.”

He told Us that the “only negative thing” about the special, at least in his eye, was that people were upset.

“It’s inevitable with almost any comedian,” Rife shared. “We’re in the business of making people happy, but I gotta be me.”

The Ohio native gained over millions of followers nearly overnight after his crowd work videos started going viral on TikTok, which led to a record-breaking world tour. But he was quick to learn that what goes up must come down — at least a bit.

“The immense positivity I received at the very beginning of [my career] can’t last forever,” Rife told Us. “It taught me to respectfully not give a f—. I know my intentions. I know where my heart lies.”

Rife is still young (he won’t even turn 30 until September 2025) but still felt like this was the perfect time to release a memoir and show fans the “real” him.

“Not only did I feel it necessary to explain more about my life and everything it took to get [here], but it also feels like I’ve already lived [a lot],” he explained. “So much of your life when you’re in the public eye is open to interpretation. It gave me a chance to tell my story on my terms.”

Your Mom’s Gonna Love Me is out now.

For more details, pick up the new issue of Us Weekly, on stands now.