In a new ad campaign for E.l.f. Beauty, Matt Rife stars alongside drag performer Heidi N. Closet as fictional personal injury lawyers “E.l.f.ino & Schmarnes.” The brand may have been hoping the comedic duo would bring laughs, but instead, the ad has been stirring up controversy.

Customers took to social media to decry the casting of Rife, a stand-up comedian who previously came under fire for making jokes blaming victims of domestic violence in his 2023 Netflix special Natural Selection, and at the expense of trans people in his 2024 Hollywood Bowl show.

“I know a thing or two about red flags,” Rife says in the new ad, going on to say that customers deserve better than overpriced makeup.

Playing on the cost-saving focus of the ad, one commenter on Instagram who gained over 20,000 likes

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