Comedian Called Racist After Saying Everyone at the Oscars Watching to See If ‘Parasite’ Cast Coughs

The 23-year-old actor, who recently appeared in “Fresh Off the Boat,” “joked” that everyone at the Oscars were “waiting to see if the cast of ‘Parasite’ coughs” — an apparent reference to the notion linking people of Chinese, Japanese and Korean origin to the spread of the deadly 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

The tweet, which included the popular GIF of a sweating Jordan Peele, was quickly taken down but it was up long enough to stir some controversy from infuriated users.

In a follow-up tweet, which was also subsequently deleted, Rife clarified that it was just a “joke” and slammed those who reacted negatively as “a bunch of cry babies.”

Rife, who started doing standup comedy at 15, has toured around the world with big names such as Dane Cook, Ralphie May, Finesse Mitchell, Mike Epps and Deray Davis.

Currently based in Los Angeles, the Ohio native has also become the youngest male regular performer at the World Famous Laugh Factory.

Aside from “Fresh Off the Boat,” Rife also appeared in other TV shows, including MTV’s “Wild ‘N Out,” “The Challenge: Champs vs. Stars” and NBC’s “Bring the Funny.”

As of this writing, the comedian has more than 44,000 followers on Twitter and 250,000 followers on Instagram.

It’s unclear how heavy the backlash against Rife’s original tweet was but comments from offended Twitter users remain visible.

Below are some examples:

Rife can also be seen responding to some users. In one exchange, he defended his “joke,” denying both racism and ignorance:

In another thread, Rife told a user who accused him of “blatant racism” to “grow up.”

Feature Images via @mattrife (left, right)