A resurfaced clip depicting Matt Rife grabbing Zendaya’s face has sparked a fresh wave of backlash against the comedian. In the video, taken during their appearance on the MTV show Wild ‘n Out, Rife can be seen engaging in inappropriate behavior and making disrespectful comments towards Zendaya. Despite her composed demeanor, Rife persistently tries to prоvоke her, making derogatory remarks about her mixed heritage and attempting to flirt with her.

The situation escalates when Rife grabs Zendaya’s chin without her consent, prompting her teammate to intervene in her defense. While Zendaya maintains her disapproval, Rife dismisses his actions, claiming she can handle herself. However, even his own teammates express discontentment with his behavior, acknowledging it as inappropriate. As of now, neither Rife nor Zendaya has publicly addressed the incident, but the incident has prompted important conversations about consent and respectful behavior.

The actress was 18 years old at the time and had just risen to global success as a Disney Channel star for her role as Rocky Blue in Shake It Up.

As Zendaya was maintaining an unbothered composure, Matt could be seen in the segment trying to wind her up as he stated: “Hey Zendaya, I’m Nick Cannоn.

“Nah, f*ck that, I’m Matt mоtherfucking Rife, alright!”

As he progressively approached the actress, who was sitting in a chair, he went on to sаy: “You’re mixed, I wanna be Black, let’s make a lifestyle movie.”