People jumped to Zendaya's defence after Matt Rife grabbed her face and 'hit on her'

Matt Rife is wading through fresh backlash after video of an uncomfortable interaction between him and Zendaya resurfaced.

The comedian, 28, is already at the centre of controversy due to his 'sexist' jokes in his debut Netflix special Natural Selection, and now fans have dug up some other evidence of his misguided attempts at humour.

He should be well aware by now that things live forever on the internet - including footage of his cringe-worthy flirting attempt with the stunning Zendaya during an episode of Wild 'N Out in 2015.

Take a look here:

Rife became a leading cast member on the MTV hit show, presented by Nick Cannon, in Season 7 and seemed keen to leave an impression on viewers to prove his worth.

It is the only explanation for his over tactile approach when he came into contact with Zendaya while taking his turn during the 'Talking Spit' game on the episode she guest starred on.

The aim of the game is to make the celebrity - in this case, Zendaya - laugh so hard that they spit the water out of their mouth before their competitor.

The actress was competing against Cannon, and had so far managed to keep her composure, so still had the liquid inside her cheeks.

Rife then trotted over to take his turn at making them both laugh and knelt behind the Wild 'N Out presenters chair before delivering his first distasteful joke to Zendaya.

YouTube/WildNOut

He said: "Look, you're mixed, I want to be Black. Let's make a lifestyle movie!"

His attempt at making the Spider-Man star laugh didn't go down well and she kept the water firmly in her mouth - which only made him more desperate to win.

Rife awkwardly followed up by striding right over to Zendaya, grabbing her face and saying: "Spit that water out so I can get your number, please."

She was visibly unimpressed by him invading her personal space as well as his strange bid for a date during the game, but kept her cool and simply wagged her finger disappointedly.

Rife's co-stars on the comedy show were equally outraged, as they immediately told him to back up away from her and chastised him for his behaviour.

One said: "Oh it was over, I'm like Matt - nuh uh. You not about to do that. That girl got a job on Disney Channel."

YouTube/WildNOut

Despite the joke not going down well, Rife said of his actions:

"What's most frustrating about that moment is that everyone was like, 'Ahh, she shot you down.' Like I was really spitting game. As if that's how I would really approach her. I got game."

Social media users have branded him a 'creep' after watching the resurfaced clip of the Wild 'N Out episode.

One said: "That was so cringe. Wth."

Another said: "Honestly he failed at being funny in this clip so he went to touch her face in a sad desperate attempt at getting a reaction out of her. It was extremely cringe and hard to watch."

A third added: "Known Matt Rife was trash since he touched Zendaya's face on Wild 'N Out without her consent."

And a fourth chimed in: "Totally forgot Matt Rife was the one who made the weird comments to Zendaya. It's all starting to make sense now."