How Matt Rife Fiercely Shut Down Those Plastic Surgery Rumors

Matt Rife has TikTok to thank for his meteoric rise to fame, but let's not skirt around the elephant in the room. His standup comedy chops, particularly Rife's crowd work, are top-notch, but his devastatingly good looks were largely what put him on the map as a performer. Oh, and the fact that Rife made out with Kate Beckinsale on the red carpet (even if their relationship didn't end well). A comedian with a face seemingly sculpted from marble is almost unheard of, to the extent that Rife was once inundated with plastic surgery rumors.

Despite looking like a Greek god, Rife views his attractiveness as more of a challenge than an advantage, especially in the comedy circuit. "People don't want to laugh at physically attractive people, like, you don't want to walk on stage and have people looking at your arms rather than listening to your jokes," he once opined to Men's Health. "I think it just makes me work that much harder." He doubled down on this view in an interview with Today, explaining that in comedy, conventional good looks don't equate to an easier path. 

"People assume your life is easier when you have all these good things going for you," Rife argued. "So that's why I would say it's a little bit harder. You have to win people over more often." With the TikTok star claiming that his good looks are a hindrance, it's surprising that so many people assumed that he'd gone under the knife. But, as the king of rebuttals, he shot them all down, including the plastic surgeon who insinuated that he'd done the work in question. 

Matt Rife is not exactly one to instigate beef with people online, but when one plastic surgeon implied that the comedian's impeccable jawline was a result of his handiwork, Rife made sure to swiftly shoot the physician down. In November 2023, Chicago-based surgeon Dr. Benjamin Caughlin took to TikTok and Instagram to share a story about one of his famous patients, writing, "Me after creating the greatest jawline ever seen just for my patient to get canceled right after," along with a video of him prancing around his clinic. 

"He shall not be named... #cancelled #jawlinecheck #comedian #standup #celeb" Caughlin penned in the caption. The timing was intriguing because people were criticizing Rife's raunchy Netflix standup special due to a string of crude jokes. It didn't take long for fans to put two and two together, assuming that it was indeed Rife to whom the surgeon was alluding. "Lying about medical history is illegal, just FYI," he commented in response. 

While some interpreted Rife's statement as an admission of guilt, the "Wild 'N Out" alum insisted that his face is all-natural. "People were saying I had jaw surgery to have a jawline. That's funny to me because I'm like [...] use your [...] brain. If I'm gonna get transformative surgery done to me, do you think I'm starting with my face?" he quipped at a show in Florida (via USA Today). "You would never hear me tell another joke for the rest of my life."

Matt Rife credits his striking transformation to nothing more than nature's course, describing himself as a late bloomer. The comedian entered the scene looking every bit the scrawny teenager, telling "Access Hollywood's" Mario Lopez that he didn't get a proper glow-up until he was already in his 20s. Describing the plastic surgery rumors as "the funniest thing in the entire world," the TikTok star asserted that he couldn't wrap his head around the fact that people would think that he went under the knife. 

"Puberty hit me so late. I didn't look like this until I was like 23," Rife reasoned. "Oh my god, everyone's like 'Oh, he's got cheek fillers, he's had his lips done,' whatever [...] Jawline surgery is a thing I guess. It's like, sorry you need surgery to look like that." If he did have a plastic surgeon, the comedian quipped that it's a celestial being. Rife poked fun at the speculations once more on the "Cancelled with Tana Mongeau" podcast and clarified that the only cosmetic enhancement he's had done was his veneers. 

"People's number one online insult is: 'Well, at least I don't have plastic surgery,' cool, neither do I," Rife said. "I've had people who claim to be plastic surgeons that'll be like: 'He's had this...' and I'm like, cool, you're not only lying but you're wrong at your job." Ultimately, the comedian has learned to take everything as a compliment. "I'm like, thanks, people pay for this? That's so crazy!" he continued. "Shoutout to Doctor G-O-D!"