10 Comedians Who Offended the Most People

10 Comedians Who Offended the Most People

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re exploring the infamous times when famous comedians caused massive outrage with their acts or behavior, leading to disaster for their careers or with the law.

Shane Gillis

In 2019, “Saturday Night Live” announced three new featured players with Chloe Fineman, Bowen Yang, and Gillis. Yet within hours, instead of the focus on Yang being the show’s first member with Asian heritage, it was on Gillis, and not in a good way. Instead, problematic comments he’d made as part of his “Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast” with Matt McCusker resurfaced. This included Gillis uttering Asian and homophobic slurs. The comedian attempted to defend himself, claiming his comments were taken out of context, but the damage was done. Days later, Gillis was dropped from SNL. The Pennsylvania performer then spent the next few years rebuilding his reputation and career. Eventually, this led to him hosting SNL multiple times, with the first being in 2024.

Andrew Dice Clay

With his brash, hyper-masculine, New York persona, Clay’s act was well-known for pushing boundaries. However, in 1989, it went too far. The comedian was brought onto the stage to introduce Cher at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards. However, Clay’s foul-mouthed monologue, which included vulgar versions of nursery rhymes made popular by Otto Petersen, led to MTV banning Clay, which wasn’t rescinded until 2011. A year later, he was set to host "Saturday Night Live.” However, on top of protests at the studio, SNL cast member Nora Dunn and musician Sinéad O'Connor refused to appear, pointing out Clay’s homophobic and misogynistic comments. Regardless, Clay continued with hosting, managing to slip in an offensive comment past the censors.

Matt Rife

With his good looks and social media presence, Rife was once the darling of the internet, especially amongst women. With his increasing popularity, he dropped his Netflix special in 2023, “Matt Rife: Natural Selection.” And with that, the wheels came off his rise. After all, the first joke was about domestic violence against a woman. It didn’t get much better with other misogynistic and body-shaming jabs. With the backlash sweeping over the internet, Rife could’ve made a heartfelt apology. Instead, he referred people who were offended to purchase headgear used to protect those with special needs. Yikes. This, of course, sparked a collection of other problematic comments Rife had said to resurface, severely damaging his once promising rise.

Tony Hinchcliffe

A comedian might survive one serious scandal. Unfortunately for Hinchcliffe, he’s had two. Firstly, in 2021, he was introduced to the stage by Peng Dang in Austin, Texas. Immediately, Hinchcliffe began the set with racial slurs and offensive Asian stereotypes. Unsurprisingly, he was dropped by his talent agency. If his reputation couldn’t fall lower, amazingly, it could. In 2024, Hinchcliffe performed at Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Madison Square Garden. On top of the racially-charged jokes against Black people, Latinas, and immigrants that failed to land well with the crowd, he referred to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.” Surprisingly, both sides of the political spectrum united to condemn Hinchcliffe’s comments.

George Carlin

One of the greatest comedians to take the mic, Carlin’s career nearly came crashing down in 1972. While performing at Summerfest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he did his infamous “seven dirty words” bit, where he mentions the words that can't be broadcast. However, this resulted in Carlin being charged with obscenity, which was later dropped. However, a year later, John Douglas and his young son heard a similar Carlin’s set on the WBAI radio station. Due to Douglas's complaint to the FCC over indecency, the group issued a declaratory order against WBAI’s owners, Pacifica Foundation. However, they challenged the order, referencing the First Amendment. This led to the Supreme Court siding with the FCC in 1978, making it a pivotal moment in broadcast regulation.

Roseanne Barr

After rising to fame with her stand-up, Barr transitioned her success to her own sitcom, “Roseanne,” earning her awards until it ended in 1997. Eventually, the show was revived in 2018. Yet shortly after the season’s final episode, Barr made sure “Roseanne” didn’t return. On social media, she compared Barack Obama’s former advisor, Valerie Jarrett, to a primate from the film franchise “Planet of the Apes.” While Barr apologized, claimed it was a “joke,” and bizarrely excused her behavior due to medication side-effects, her racist comment resulted in ABC canceling “Roseanne.” Instead, the network created “The Conners,” continuing without the problematic star. Since then, Barr has dabbled in far-right conspiracy theories and hate speech.

Kathy Griffin

While she has a history of making offensive comments and jokes that resulted in her losing work and getting banned from shows, nothing could’ve prepared Griffin for the backlash she received in 2017. In a reference to problematic comments Donald Trump had made about Megyn Kelly, Griffin uploaded content of herself holding a Trump-esque mask covered in fake blood. Straight away, people were disgusted at the stunt, deeming it a threat of violence against Trump. While Griffin apologized – which she later rescinded – the damage was done. As well as being fired from CNN’s New Year’s Eve broadcast and venues canceling her tour, Griffin was dropped as a Squatty Potty spokesperson. Even her family, including her ill sister and mother, received threats from people.

Ricky Gervais

There aren’t many groups that Gervais hasn’t upset at some point in his career. During his stint as the Golden Globes host, it was often celebrities who bore the brunt. Yet in 2022, for the “Ricky Gervais: SuperNature” stand-up special on Netflix, he targeted another demographic, the trans community. Shortly after its release, outrage spread over social media for Gervais's transphobic jokes. Even though he mentioned at the end of the special that he was an ally to the trans community, it didn’t matter, as Gervais had severely damaged his standing with those he claimed he supported. His follow-up Netflix special, 2023’s “Ricky Gervais: Armageddon,” also received backlash as “The Office” co-creator made a controversial joke about children with cancer.

Dieudonné

Originally gaining fame as a “woke” comedian in France, Dieudonné’s politics completely inverted at one point, causing mass backlash to his problematic content and friendships with far-right figures. Many times in his career, Dieudonné has been criminally charged for his statements. In 2014, accusations of antisemitism caused several French venues to ban him from performing, which sparked protests from supporters and led the riot police to intervene. Even the UK banned Dieudonné. In 2015, the comedian was handed a two-month suspended sentence for condoning two extremist attacks on social media. The same year, Dieudonné was sentenced to two months in jail in Belgium for hate speech. Unsurprisingly, he was also banned from multiple social media platforms in 2020.

Lenny Bruce

Before there was your favorite controversial comedian pushing boundaries, there was Bruce. Beginning in 1961, the legendary New York stand-up included phrases and words in his performances that led to obscenity charges. Beyond getting banned from the UK, the charges were typically dropped. However, while performing at the Greenwich Village’s Cafe Au Go Go in 1964, that changed when he reportedly stated 100 obscene words. Following his arrest, Bruce was sentenced to four months in jail. However, he fled to California during his appeal. In 1966, after struggling with substance issues, Bruce passed away. In 2003, with support from his ex-wife, Honey Bruce, and their daughter, Kitty, Bruce was posthumously pardoned by then-New York Governor George Pataki.

Are there any other offensive comedians who we missed from the video? Let us know below.