Matt Rife and Shane Gillis
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Matt Rife tells people to ‘shut up’ over the Shane Gillis and Tony Hinchcliffe roast drama

'Then don’t watch it'

Daisy Phillipson
26th May 2026, 13:56
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It’s been more than two weeks since The Roast of Kevin Hart aired on Netflix, but the controversy continues to make headlines, with Matt Rife now chiming in on the conversation. 

The three-hour comedy special, which premiered on Sunday, May 10th, saw a group of celebrities and comedians taking to the stage to fire shots at both Hart and each other. 

This year’s edition sparked controversy, particularly Tony Hinchcliffe’s comment about George Floyd. “The Black community is so proud of you,” the Kill Tony host said. “Right now George Floyd is looking up at us all laughing so hard he can’t breathe.”

Floyd’s family slammed the joke, as did civil rights activists who held a press conference and demanded accountability. Shane Gillis also made a racially charged joke when he said Hart is so short, “they’re gonna have to lynch him from a bonsai tree.”

Chelsea Handler, another comedian featured at the event, slammed Gillis and Hinchcliffe on last week’s episode of Deon Cole’s Funny Knowing You podcast, accusing the pair of being “racist” and “sexist.”

Gillis fired back through his representative, who shared the following statement with Film Shrine, “This is a big moment for Chelsea. I am glad she’s capitalising. Good for her. We’re all rooting for her. Anyway come see me July 17th at the football stadium in Philly.”

Matt Rife shuts down the Kevin Hart Roast controversy

Fellow standup comedian Matt Rife shared his thoughts about the situation at the 2026 American Music Awards last night, with the Variety interviewer highlighting the backlash to certain jokes. 

Before he finished his question, Rife replied, “Oh my god, shut up. Shut up. Then don’t watch it. It’s a roast. Everybody there is going to be made fun of. It’s supposed to push the boundaries of all forms of comedy for a roast.”

“It’s supposed to be mean-spirited, but you don’t actually mean it,” he added. “Everyone there loves each other.”

Prior to this, Rife praised everyone involved in The Roast of Kevin Hart, saying, “I did not get a chance to see the whole thing, but my feed is obviously filled with clips from it. I think everybody on there crushed it, dude. It was brutal but as a roast should be.”

His response has sparked a discussion, with some viewers disagreeing with his take. “Kevin Hart giving people permission to say a bunch or racist sh*t towards him doesn’t mean others should accept the same type of violence,” wrote one. 

“But it’s become so personal, so vulgar, they need to go watch the Dean Martin roasts to see how it’s done,” said another, while a third added, “No… roasts aren’t supposed to be mean spirited.”

On the other side of the fence, one fan said, “Right lol it was f**king funny as hell some jaw dropping moments but I still laughed my ass off.”

But for the most part, the comments section is dominated with quips about Rife’s bleach blonde frosted tips. “Why did he steal ’90s Lance Bass hair?” said one, while another wrote, “Are we back in 2000? Clay Aiken vibes.”

A third joked, “B*tch I thought this was a drag race queen out of drag.”

Nikki Glaser reveals why she really thinks people are angry about the jokes

Rife isn’t the only one talking about the event, as comedian Nikki Glaser has said she’s relieved she sat this one out. 

Although she’s a regular at celebrity roasts and was offered a spot at the latest Netflix special, Glaser revealed back in March that she’d turned it down due to her busy schedule and the fact that she’s already roasted Hart multiple times. 

As she told Variety at the time, “I’m coming up short with short jokes if you know what I’m saying.”

In a new chat with Entertainment Tonight, Glaser said she’s glad she was watching it rather than participating. She also said she was going to keep quiet about her opinions on the controversy.

“I’m going to keep my opinions to myself and just keep talking about them in my group chats with my other comedian friends about what we think about it,” she explained.

However, Glaser did offer up a little insight into her thoughts, saying, “I don’t believe that jokes can’t be made that are ironically racist jokes. The problem is not that it’s racist. It’s that if you really want to do a joke, you’ve got to find a way to make it make sense. 

“You can’t just say it out of nowhere… I think that’s what people are having a problem with is not the nature of the jokes, because I do love roasts and how anything can be said and all bets are off, but that’s not so easy. You have to make it palatable.”

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Featured image credit: John Salangsang/Shutterstock/Netflix