Parents are not pleased after Netflix surprised them with an unexpected Christmas spoiler courtesy of comedian Matt Rife. The streaming service recently dropped Matt Rife: Unwrapped – A Christmas Crowd Work Special.
When viewers opened the app, they were shown an autoplaying clip from the show. It opened on Rife, casually stating that parents, not Santa, placed gifts under the tree at Christmas.
@_camy__camy_ Parents beware: @Netflix is auto-playing Matt Rife’s new Christmas special and he immediately drops a HUGE Christmas spoiler 😭🎄 If you have little kids around, open Netflix at your own risk. Netflix please fix this autoplay!!! #parentsoftiktok #netflix #mattrife #christmas #momsoftiktok ♬ original sound – Camila White
Rife built a reputation as a crowd-work comic with a large following of older women. However, his attempt to reset his image had already sparked debate. He previously faced backlash for jokes about domestic violence and disabilities in his 2023 Netflix special, Natural Selection.
Parents are mad at Netflix for ruining Christmas
As soon as the new special launched on Tuesday, parents reported that Netflix’s homepage defaulted to a preview revealing the truth about Santa.
Redditor u/Best-Account-6969 complained on the r/mildlyinfuriating subreddit about the special. They wrote, “Netflix and Matt Rife ruining Santa for little kids if you open the app on its default setting.” They explained that the autoplay began within seconds and featured Rife telling viewers that Santa was not real.
“Probably their marketing team pushing for edgy pr or even Matt,” u/Best-Account-6969 said. “But potentially ruining the magical world of Santa for little kids for clicks imo is scummy.”
Another person, u/Radioactivocalypse, replied, “Yeah, that’s definitely mildly infuriating. Intentional for sure, those autoplay previews are carefully selected in advance. Netflix response probably would be ‘We have a dedicated children’s login.”
The drama escalated across social platforms and eventually caught the attention of TMZ:
Social media reactions
Most people were not impressed with Netflix’s choice of autoplaying previews, though others didn’t see anything wrong with it.
On X, @Byrnish1981 noted, “Hey @netflix, not a very cool idea to have @mattrife autoplay teaser for his new special talking about your parents being Santa. I get it’s on an adult profile but kids are always going to be in or around the room & can easily overhear. Pick another clip to feature instead?”
u/Eventually-figured added, “Counterpoint: If your kid is old enough to have a regular Netflix account that Matt Rife is going to pop up on and not a kids account, they’re probably old enough to know Santa isn’t real…”
“The kayfabe around aggressively trying to convince children that Santa is real is honestly strange. I always knew my parents got me my presents; it strengthened my bond with my parents and made me feel loved,” u/Ryanhussain14 pointed out.
“Feels weird to tell your kids that your holiday is centred around a magical being instead of the people in your life who matter to you the most.”
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