Tony Hinchcliffe is no stranger to controversy, having made a name for himself over the years by insulting audience members, his fellow comics and celebrities.
In his latest upset, the comedian compared Puerto Rico to “garbage” when he took to the stage at Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night.
“There’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now,” Hinchcliffe said. “I think it’s called Puerto Rico.”
The comments fell flat in the stadium and have led to widespread condemnation from Republicans, Democrats, and celebrities. Even the Trump campaign is trying to distance itself from the remarks as the presidential election enters the final week.
Hinchcliffe’s Instagram account, meanwhile, has been inundated with angry comments from the public slamming him for the joke.
But judging from his track record, Hinchcliffe is unlikely to be apologizing any time soon.
“My stance is that comedians should never apologize for a joke,” he said in an interview with Variety earlier this year.
Hinchcliffe has a long history of controversial and offensive comments.
His refusal to apologize came after he was dropped by his representatives in 2021 following a racial slur he made about American-Chinese comedian Peng Dang. Footage of him insulting Dang went viral and a fallout ensued.
“I knew that what I had done was not wrong,” Hinchcliffe said. “It wasn’t even the worst thing I did that week. I couldn’t believe it when that video came out, and it was one of my former openers doing it. It was so dumbfounding to me because it was a joke, and my stance is that comedians should never apologize for a joke.”
Hinchcliffe has previously made controversial jokes about Sean “Diddy” Combs, George Floyd and the Baltimore Bridge collapse.
Earlier this year, he made headlines after making a vicious joke about Kim Kardashian on Tom Brady’s live Netflix comedy roast.
He was discussing the Will Ferrell movie Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, and its famous “Whale’s vagina” line when he switched the topic of his roast to reality star Kardashian, who was in the crowd.
“A whale’s vagina, which reminds me, Kim Kardashian’s here. She’s had a lot of black men celebrating her endzone,” Hinchcliffe said.
“Kim, word of advice, close your legs. You have more public beef than Kendrick and Drake.”
While the event was a staged roast, and guests could expect to be subjected to brutal jokes at their own expense, many Netflix viewers said the remarks went too far, branding Hinchcliffe’s comments “incredibly misogynistic” and “gross.”
In the face of the current backlash to his set at Trump’s rally, Hinchcliffe is showing no signs of backing down.
He hit back at criticism from Tim Walz and congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claiming they had taken his remarks “out of context” and telling the Democratic VP candidate to “change your tampon.”
“These people have no sense of humor,” Hinchcliffe complained. “Wild that a vice presidential candidate would take time out of his ‘busy schedule’ to analyze a joke taken out of context to make it seem racist.”
He added: “I love Puerto Rico and vacation there. I made fun of everyone…watch the whole set. I’m a comedian Tim…might be time to change your tampon.”
The comedian grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, which he described as “the crime capital of America” at the time. Hinchcliffe said at school he was “the class clown.”
He moved to Los Angeles in 2007 and joined the comedy circuit, opening for Joe Rogan.
Hinchcliffe wrote jokes for celebrities on Comedy Central Roast before he relocated to Austin, Texas and launched the Kill Tony podcast with co-host Brian Redban. The podcast gives wanna-be comedians a shot at fame by making them perform a stand-up set for 60 seconds before the judges give often brutal feedback. Kill Tony has 1.89 million subscribers on YouTube and was broadcast to a live audience from Madison Square Garden in August, where it grossed nearly $3m, according to Pollstar.
