Matt Rife gained a major following after his standup comedy routines blew up on TikTok, but his family was always there supporting his career — and now he’s returning the favor.
The Netflix star had a particularly close bond to his late grandfather, Steve Rife.
“My grandpa really was my father figure. I spent every single weekend with him from the moment I was born. My mom and I lived with him for the first five years since I was born,” Matt told Numéro Magazine in March 2023. “Every single weekend, I wouldn’t go out and hang out with friends and stuff like that, even through being a teenager. I would go to his house every weekend. He was a very funny guy, just a raunchy old man.”
Matt said that the duo would constantly watch movies together, which allowed him to “develop the sense of humor I have now.”
Because he was so young when his father died, Matt also developed a close relationship with his mom, April Rife. (The comedian’s father died by suicide when he was a baby.)
“My mom, she still really doesn’t understand at all. She understands that she has a house now. I told her, ‘Hey things are going really well. I wanna make sure you’re taken care of, you don’t have any bills to pay for the rest of your life. I wanna get you a house,’” Matt recalled on the “2 Bears, 1 Cave” podcast in October 2023, noting that “nine days” after that conversation, his mom started sending him links to various mansions.
“My mom lives in an apartment that she smokes in the bathroom of,” he joked during the podcast. “She sends me a link for a nine-bedroom, $3.5 million house with horse stables. I go, ‘You don’t even know nine people.’ Who’s going to live in this f—king house.”
He ended up buying her a four-bedroom home that was “way less expensive.”
Keep scrolling for more details on Matt’s family:
Who Was Matt Rife’s Grandpa?
Matt’s late grandfather, Steve, helped him launch his comedy career. When Matt was starting out as a teenager, he would perform in various comedy clubs during open mic nights. The clubs required comedians to sell five tickets — and his grandpa would buy all five.
“In his eye, I could do no wrong,” Matt shared on the “2 Bears, 1 Cave” podcast.
In November 2022, Matt revealed in an Instagram post that his grandpa had died.
“This morning I lost my best friend in the entire world. My grandpa Steve❤️,” he wrote in part. “The greatest man I’ve ever known. I’ve never loved someone so much. If I’ve ever made you laugh- it’s because of him.”
Who Is Matt Rife’s Mom?
“My mom is 48 years old, she’s always injured, always. She has vertigo,” he joked on the “2 Bears, 1 Cave” podcast, when discussing buying his mom a house.
While his father died when he was young, Matt did grow up with a stepfather. However, he explained during his Numéro Magazine interview that they “never really had a connection.”
Does Matt Rife Have Any Siblings?
Matt revealed that he has three older step-sisters and one younger half-sister during an interview on the “Bertcast” podcast in April 2022.
