Matt Rife Says Haters Are Just Jealous of Him and Osama Bin Laden

Matt Rife is no stranger to controversy — especially not this month. Since dropping his special Natural Selection on November 15, he’s received backlash for domestic violence jokes, told his critics to buy special-needs helmets, been accused of joke thievery, had a “plastic surgeon” throwing shade, and saw old Wild ‘N Out videos with Zendaya go viral (and not in a good way). As if to prove the old axiom that ‘any publicity is good publicity,’ Natural Selection is still rockin’ the Netflix top ten. Bring on the hate!

Click right here to get the best of Cracked sent to your inbox.

Now another old Rife clip has gone viral and it couldn’t be more apt for his current turmoil. A few months ago, Rife appeared on the CANCELLED with Tana Mongeau podcast to discuss, among other things, Matt Rife Hate.

“So many fucking people hate me for really no reason,” Rife said. “And it really made me realize that people only hate somebody they're jealous of. I've been guilty of hating people and when I really sat back and thought about it, it was because I was jealous of where that person was in their life. Maybe they got an opportunity that I should have gotten so now that I'm doing so much better for myself, I don't have that energy towards anybody.”

People only hate people when they feel jealous. OK. That’s certainly one reason people hate, but does it really paint the whole picture? Mongeau isn’t sure. While she credits Rife for his “really good, well-rounded answer,” she still can’t quite wrap her head around that jealousy thing explaining all the world’s animosity. For example, she says, “Do you think people who hate Osama bin Laden are jealous?”

As Rife has consistently proven over the past few weeks, he’s not one to back down when criticized. “Yeah, of course, of course,” he insists. “They're mad that he was the one calling the shots. Of course. Everyone wants to be the one with the remote.” 

So people hated bin Laden because they were jealous that he was the dude giving the orders, not because, say, he was responsible for 9/11? I guess that's one way to look at it. Perhaps realizing the ridiculousness of the words that just came out of his mouth, Rife backtracks a bit — there’s a difference, he says, between hating someone (when someone has done something to you) and hating on someone (when you’re jealous). Which camp bin Laden falls in, Rife doesn’t say.

With Rife's career in high gear, he says, he no longer feels jealous of anyone. But just because he has no beef doesn't mean he wouldn't punch a guy. In fact, without anyone asking the question, Rife offers up a fight candidate: Will Smith. “He seemed to have a good right hook right,” Rife observed. “I love Will Smith but A, he’s in great shape, it's a great competition. And B, he hit Chris Rock, so as part of the comedy community…” 

A Matt Rife/Will Smith title bout? It feels like the ending to 2023 that we all deserve.