American comedian Matthew Rife has been called out after allegedly telling a six-year-old boy his mother buys him gifts “with the money she makes on OnlyFans.”
In a video posted on TikTok on Saturday (9 December), the boy’s mother, Bunny Hedaya said Rife, 28, made an insensitive comment towards her son, according to Huffington Post.
“Matt Rife has decided to start beef with my 6-year-old child online,” Ms Hedaya said in her clip. The controversy began after Rife reportedly responded to a video of the boy reacting to a segment from the comic’s new Netflix show “Natural Selection”. The boy’s mother also shared a screenshot of Rife’s alleged message.
Rife and her son’s alleged row started with the boy reacting to a clip from Rife’s show, in which the comic said: "I am so tired of you ladies blaming your poor decision-making skills on planets that don’t even know you... your future is determined by your own thoughts, opinions and actions. You are in complete control of how your future turns out.
"It has nothing to do with the stars, man. Just because Jupiter has a ring, and you don’t, doesn’t mean that’s what you’re supposed to look up to for this magical advice."
In a separate video, the boy responded to Rife and said: “Actually, it’s Saturn that has the rings. It has more (visible rings) also.”
Referring to Rife’s insensitive joke about domestic violence victims that he made earlier in the same Netflix special, the boy added: “And, you’re mean to girls.”
Rife allegedly replied to Ms Hedaya’s son on Instagram saying: “Jupiter also has a ring. OH!... and Santa Claus isn’t real.” He’s also said to have added: “Your mom buys you presents with the money she makes on OnlyFans. Good luck,” The video appears to have later been deleted by the comedian.
Ms Hedaya went on to say her son’s response was meant to be “light-hearted” and Rife was never tagged in the video.
The mother’s clip received more than nine million views as well as an outpouring of support.
"Matt Rife being comedian who can’t take a joke is the funniest thing about him," one critic said.
"I thought Matt Rife couldn’t go any lower," another added.
Ohio native Rife has faced much backlash after the release of his show and has also been called out for his “toxic masculinity”.
Rife starts his new stand-up show with a domestic violence joke about going to a restaurant in Baltimore where “the hostess who seats you had a black eye”.
He added: “A full black eye. It wasn’t like, ‘What happened?’ It was pretty obvious what happened. But we couldn’t get over, like, this is the face of the company? This is who you have greeting people? “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.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, but I feel like if she could cook, she wouldn’t have that black eye’.”
The gag did not go down well with social media users.
One hit out on X: “The girls and gays were Matt Rife’s biggest demographic and he used his Netflix special to pander to toxic masculinity.”
Another added: “Not Matt Rife building his platform on catering to his female audience and then opening his Netflix special with a domestic violence joke,” another said.
The Independent has contacted Rife’s representatives for a comment.
