People are dubbing Matt Rife a “creep” after a video of him attempting to flirt with Zendaya during a 2015 episode of “Wild ‘N Out” resurfaced.
In the clip, the comedian had been challenged to make her laugh and spit out the water she was holding in her mouth in order for his team to score a point.
“Look, you’re mixed, I want to be Black, let’s make a lifestyle movie,” Rife told her as he knelt beside host Nick Cannon’s chair.
As she remained unfazed, the stand-up comic approached Zendaya, cupped her face in his face and said, “Spit that water out so I can get your number, please.”
The “Euphoria” star, who was 18 at the time, was visibly unimpressed with his attempts and wagged her finger to deny his advances.
His co-stars also jumped to her defense and told him to back off.
“Keep your hands off her, Matt,” one cast member yelled, while another said, “She’s too young.”
A third co-star added, “You not about to do that. That girl got a job on Disney Channel.”
However, the comedians on Rife’s team argued that he was only one year older than her, hinting that it was OK for him to flirt with her.
Neither Zendaya, now 27, nor Rife, now 28, ever addressed the interaction after the show was filmed.
As the clip resurfaced on social media, many pointed out just how “cringe” and “hard to watch” the interaction was to watch.
One person wrote, “Honestly he failed at being funny in this clip so he went to touch her face in a sad desperate attempt at getting a reaction out of her. It was extremely cringe and hard to watch.”
“Known Matt Rife was trash since he touched Zendaya’s face on Wild ‘N Out without her consent,” another added.
A third chimed in, “Totally forgot Matt Rife was the one who made the weird comments to Zendaya. It’s all starting to make sense now.”
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The video re-appeared on social media after Rife, who rose to fame on TikTok, came under fire for making a joke about domestic violence in his new Netflix special, which began streaming on Nov. 15.
The joke in question was about a “ratchet” Baltimore restaurant where “the hostess who seats you had a black eye.”
“A full black eye. It wasn’t like, ‘What happened?’ It was pretty obvious what happened,” he said, alluding to domestic abuse.
“But we couldn’t get over, like, this is the face of the company? This is who you have greeting people?” the comic went on.
“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.’”
After viewers took to social media to label the bit “disrespectful” and “offensive,” he fired back with a sarcastic post on his Instagram Story Monday.
“If you’ve ever been offended by a joke I’ve told – here’s a link to my official apology,” he captioned a photo of himself onstage during the special, titled “Natural Selection.”
The link was labeled, “Tap to solve your issue.” However, it deceivingly directed his fans to purchase special needs helmets from Medicaleshop.
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