Matt Rife is back in hot water. The comedian recently dropped a new Netflix comedy special, and it appears that both Rife and Netflix have upset families around the world. It's not that his actual comedy crossed any boundaries. It's actually because when you load up Netflix, a preview of his comedy starts playing, and it's a segment about how Santa Claus isn't real.
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As you can imagine, there are a lot of distraught children who turned on the TV hoping to watch some Bluey or Pokémon, only to find out the man in the big red suit was nothing but a lie. Parents must be scrambling to try to explain away Rife's joke.
"That changes everything when you find out your parents are Santa Claus," Rife says during the promo clip.
It's one thing when children on the playground tell you Santa isn't real; it's another when that message comes from a paid service. Of course, the issue could easily be resolved if parents were logging into the children's section of the app, or at least that's part of the argument some users are sticking with to defend Netflix.
Matt Rife Had Some All-Star Help in Promoting His New Netflix Special
Despite some unhappy parents venting their frustrations, the launch of Rife's latest comedy special has been a successful one. Of course, part of that is likely down to him recruiting both Macaulay Culkin and Charlie Sheen for a surprise promo video.
When speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Rife shared his excitement at getting the two stars to work together on his promo.
"My buddy who was there at the shoot said that I might be the only person on Earth that could bring Macaulay and Charlie Sheen together. It was pretty incredible," Rife said. "They were so game to play and it made everything fun. Neither were sensitive or worried about anything. They just were up for having some fun. That's what filming should be like."
Still, Netflix may want to change the preview segment; otherwise, Santa may not be making a visit to their headquarters this year, and for a company that dons a red logo, that could wind up being a bad omen.
