It's all fun and games until you piss off the Swifties. These comedians found out the hard way that just because you can joke about something doesn't mean you should.
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00:00It's all fun and games until you piss off the Swifties.
00:03These comedians found out the hard way that just because you can joke about something
00:07doesn't mean you should.
00:09On October 27th, a little over a week before the 2024 election, Donald Trump held a rally
00:14at Madison Square Garden that was filled with speakers providing inflammatory remarks.
00:19But one statement broke through the most.
00:21It came from comedian Tony Hinchcliffe.
00:23There were many racist jokes, and Hinchcliffe even earned the ire of Taylor Swift's fans
00:27for inferring that her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, could be the next O.J. Simpson.
00:31But his most infamous statement came when he said,
00:34I don't know if you guys know this, but there's literally a floating island of garbage in
00:38the middle of the ocean right now.
00:40Yeah.
00:41I think it's called Puerto Rico."
00:42The comments sent waves throughout Hispanic communities throughout the United States.
00:46The joke seemed particularly ill-suited, considering how many Puerto Ricans live in swing states
00:51like Pennsylvania.
00:52Latin celebrities like Bad Bunny and Jennifer Lopez even came out in support of Kamala
00:57Harris after Hinchcliffe's comments went viral.
01:00Rather than apologize or offer any semblance of self-reflection, Hinchcliffe doubled down
01:04on his joke following the backlash, writing on X,
01:07These people have no sense of humor.
01:09I made fun of everyone.
01:11Matt Rife first got big on TikTok by sharing bits from its comedy shows, which primarily
01:15featured his crowd work.
01:16He gained a substantial following, and it wasn't long before Netflix gave him his own
01:20comedy special in 2023, Natural Selection.
01:23So how did Rife choose to begin this special?
01:26With a joke about domestic violence, he tells a story about seeing a female restaurant server
01:30with a black eye.
01:31Then,
01:32Yeah, but I feel like if she could cook, she wouldn't have that black eye.
01:36The special also included homophobic jokes and seemingly plagiarized bits from the late
01:41Ralphie May.
01:42But it was Rife's domestic violence joke that earned the most ire.
01:45Natural Selection has an abysmal 19 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
01:50In response to the backlash, Rife posted a link to his Instagram stories, asking people
01:54to click if they were offended by his material.
01:56The link directed users to a website offering a protective helmet for special-needs children.
02:01The controversy didn't deter Netflix from working with Rife again, though.
02:04Another comedy event, Lucid, a crowd work special, was released in 2024.
02:10In 2012, just days after the horrific Aurora, Colorado shooting during a screening of The
02:14Dark Knight Rises, Dane Cook took to the stage at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles to talk
02:19about how much he didn't like the film.
02:21He concluded by saying,
02:22"...I know that if, you know, none of that would have happened, I'm pretty sure that
02:25somebody in that theater about 25 minutes in, realizing that it was a piece of crap,
02:29was probably like, ugh, fâ shoot me."
02:32With 12 people dead and dozens of others injured, many didn't think it was appropriate to joke
02:36about the tragedy, especially so soon after it had occurred.
02:39Cook later posted an apology on X, writing,
02:42"...I am devastated by the recent tragedy in Colorado and did not mean to make light
02:46of what happened.
02:47I made a bad judgment call with my material last night and regret making a joke at such
02:51a sensitive time."
02:53In 2017, during the MeToo movement, Louis C.K. faced numerous accusations from women
02:58accusing him of sexual misconduct.
03:00His reckoning was swift, with Netflix canceling a planned stand-up special and his film I
03:05Love You Daddy remaining unreleased.
03:07But even before all of this, C.K. regularly found himself towing the line of good taste,
03:12and that includes a 2015 Saturday Night Live monologue where the comedian made light of
03:16pedophilia.
03:17"...Because child molesters are very tenacious people.
03:20They love molesting childs, it's crazy!"
03:23The nervous laughter from the crowd that night was probably the tip-off that the joke wasn't
03:27going to go over well.
03:28"...How do you think I feel?
03:29This is my last show, probably."
03:31Amazingly, that wasn't his last show, as he'd return to host SNL again in April 2017, right
03:37before those sexual misconduct allegations against him came to light.
03:41Plenty of folks came forward on social media to condemn the jokes, while others insisted
03:45that this is simply what comedians do, push boundaries.
03:48Louis C.K. made a career out of being offensive, and even his more formal cancellation couldn't
03:52stop him.
03:53Following MeToo in 2017, C.K. continued releasing stand-up specials through his website, and
03:58he even sold out Madison Square Garden during a 2023 performance.
04:02Even with so much baggage, he still has a surprising amount of support from fans.
04:07There are certain subjects comedians should probably avoid if they want to avoid controversy
04:11â politics, religion, and Taylor Swift.
04:13Nikki Glaser learned that the hard way, when a stand-up clip of her was featured in Swift's
04:17documentary, Miss Americana.
04:18"'She's too skinny.
04:19It bothers me.
04:20All of her model friends.
04:21And it's just like, come on.'"
04:22"'Lock and load, boys.'"
04:25Glaser's statement is paired with other criticisms from members of the media lobbied towards
04:29Swift, which made her self-conscious and want to back away from the spotlight.
04:33Following the film's release, Glaser posted a lengthy statement on Instagram, apologizing
04:37for the comment.
04:38"'I probably actually hurt her feelings, and it felt horrible.'"
04:42Amazingly, the message reached Swift, who accepted it while discussing the importance
04:46of showing how people can grow.
04:49During a 2012 performance at the Laugh Factory, Daniel Tosh apparently made a series of jokes
04:53surrounding sexual assault, prompting a woman in the audience to express how such jokes
04:57are never funny.
04:59According to the woman, Tosh then alluded to her getting sexually assaulted right then
05:02and there.
05:03In the aftermath, the internet exploded into a series of think pieces about whether he
05:07crossed the line.
05:08Many comedians came to Tosh's defense, essentially asserting that, while they may not agree with
05:12that specific joke, they believe comedians should be allowed to explore dark subjects
05:16in the name of humor.
05:17Still, many claim this subject is just too painful to joke about.
05:21Author Roxane Gay wrote for Salon,
05:23"'Rape' is many things â humiliating, degrading, physically and emotionally painful, exhausting,
05:29irritating.
05:30It is never funny for most women."
05:31Tosh apologized for the set, and it serves as a reminder that, if the job of a comedian
05:36is to make people laugh, certain subjects should probably remain out of limits.
05:40If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National
05:44Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.
05:48You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.