"The guy who jokes about DV?": New ELF ad controversy explained as netizens call out brand over Matt Rife's inclusion

ELF's new ad campaign with comedian Matt Rife and Heidi N' Closet is receiving backlash online as netizens are bringing up Rife's past controversial remarks.

Matt Rife went viral in 2023 for a joke from his Netflix special, Natural Selection. The stand-up comedian made a domestic violence joke, saying a woman wouldn't be a victim if "she could cook."

"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," he joked.

The ELF ad titled The Law Offices of e.l.f.ino & Schmarnes featured Riff and drag queen Heidi N' Closet as legal attorneys. The ad followed the parody theme of last year's Super Bowl commercial. It was titled Judge Beauty and was a parody of the popular show, Judge Judy.

 

 

 

 

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Netizens called out ELF's new ad on social media. One user (@thevivirose) mockingly said that including Matt Rife in a female-targeted ad was a bad choice.

"Oooooh. Matt Rife? The guy who jokes about DV? In an ad targetted to women? That's, um. A choice," they wrote.

Netizens shared their displeasure as they remarked that the ad looked like a comedy skit from Saturday Night Live, and that the cosmetics brand supposedly did not have the budget for a different comedian.

One user (@bridgettelizabew) mockingly asked if OJ Simpson and Chris Brown were booked. For the unversed, the two celebrities have had abuse scandals and have gotten massive backlash over the years.

Internet users claimed that the cosmetics brand took an opportunity from a beauty content creator and gave it to a "notorious" comedian. One netizen (@absence.etiquette) directly tagged ELF and asked them if they knew about Matt Rife's controversial statements.

Netizens continued to criticize the company. One such user (@kristians_makeup) noted that including a drag queen in the ad campaign does not mean they can include Matt Rife.

Prior to ELF Cosmetics' ad campaign, Matt Rife responded to the online backlash over his joke

After clips of his Netflix special spread online, the stand-up comedian addressed it on his Instagram stories in November 2023. He told netizens to click on a link he provided to read his "official apology."

The link led to a website that sold helmets for individuals with special needs. The Instagram story again received backlash as internet users claimed Matt Rife was allegedly mocking people with disabilities.

Rife stated in an August 2024 interview with The New Yorker that many domestic violence victims reached out to him and told him that they found the joke funny. Then he told the media outlet that not everyone wants to be known as a "victim," and some of them wish to heal from their trauma by feeling "uncomfortable."

"Whether it's depression or a physical disability, not everyone wants to be seen as a victim. They also want to laugh at themselves. Sometimes people need to laugh to heal through the things that make them uncomfortable," the comedian said.

He also shared that actor and comedian Dave Chappelle reached out to him during the backlash and told him not to apologize, as it would mean that he "lost."

"Even when the world turned against me after the special, Chappelle was like, 'Don't f**kin' give in. It doesn't matter what you do. If you apologize, you still lost,'" he stated.

As of the time of writing, neither the cosmetics brand nor Matt Rife has responded to the backlash.