Can we agree that when celebrities behave badly enough in any given year, they get nothing but coal in their stockings for Christmas? Sort of a "three strikes" situation?
At any rate, that seems to be the sentiment around Matt Rife as he has, in this year alone, made terrible jokes about domestic violence, become a primary caretaker for the most haunted doll in history, participated in a questionable E.L.F. campaign, and now possibly ruined Christmas for countless children.
He's definitely on the "naughty" list.
On December 2, Netflix released Rife's latest comedy special, this one emphasizing the improvised crowd work that made the guy popular in the first place. The special is titled, Matt Rife: Unwrapped - A Christmas Crowd Work Special, which involves various jokes about the Christmas season, shopping, seasonal stress, and other topics most of us can relate to.
The problem is that Rife also included a joke about Santa Claus not being real and that it's a "life-changing" moment when children figure out that their parents have been the guy in the red suit the entire time.
This joke isn't new. But comedians usually warn parents about Santa-related content to give them a moment to usher their children out of the room, distract them, or at least cover their ears. This helps preserve the spirit of the holiday and can make the joke a little funnier.
Rife, however, did not include a spoiler alert in his special for those in the audience or those watching from home who might like to wind down their evening with a little comedy.
To make matters worse, this joke about parents being Santa Claus was the clip that Netflix decided to use as the teaser preview that users will see while scrolling through options.
Even worse than that, it's the very first trailer that autoplays when users open the app.
Rife makes the joke so fast, it's sure to catch users by surprise, and in the time it takes them to scroll away, the damage is already done, and any children in the room might have just learned the big secret of the holiday... from Matt Rife.
You can see an example of it here:
Netflix users were quick to express their anger on Twitter (X), and they did not mince their words.
This is a problem on Netflix's part that would be easy enough to fix. If they want to use Matt Rife's special as the first item that users will see, they need to change that clip. Otherwise, they could move it to another position on the app.
If Rife's comedy is of interest to you and this Christmas special is on your watch list, make sure to watch it after the kids are safely tucked in their beds and not running back to the kitchen to grab another snack.
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