Tony Hinchcliffe has attracted fierce controversy in recent days, following his appearance at a Donald Trump rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The controversial comedian’s rally speech sparked backlash from both Democrats and Republicans, with a joke about the territory of Puerto Rico garnering the most attention. “I don’t know if you guys know this, but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now,” Hinchcliffe told crowds at the Trump rally, “I think it’s called Puerto Rico.”
The comment was taken by most as an insulting swipe against the key constituency of Puerto Rico, and the subsequent backlash has turned attention to his broader career and history, including his relationship with his parents.
Tony Hinchcliffe grew up with a distant father
According to multiple reports, Hinchcliffe grew up with a mostly distant father who would only visit him and his two siblings in their home state of Ohio on rare occasions. Named Michael Hinchcliffe, Tony’s father was reportedly a Vietnam War veteran and businessman and passed away in 2016 (per GPMagz).
In an interview with Variety, Tony credited his distant relationship with his father as a main source of inspiration for his comedy while growing up. He told the publication that stand-up was his “only escape” from his childhood in a “rough, tough neighborhood,” and that comedy felt like a way to reconnect with his father.
“Anytime my father, who would visit sometimes, would come around, my goal was to make him laugh because I thought that would make him visit more,” Tony told Variety. Earlier this year, Tony said in a podcast interview that his father “dabbled in organized crime” when he was a child, since his hometown of Youngstown was a “huge Mafia hub” that was home to Al Capone.
Tony revealed the reason for Michael’s minimal involvement in his life earlier this year. While appearing on an episode of Ryan Sickler’s HoneyDew podcast, Tony said his father was secretly married to a woman other than his mother for years.
Tony was unaware of his father’s other family until well into his adolescence and simply believed throughout his childhood that Michael was away for extended periods for work-related travels.
Tony Hinchcliff has a supportive mother
Despite having a distant relationship with his father and saying in the past that he was “raised by [his] siblings,” Tony appears to have a closer relationship with his mother, Joy Hinchcliffe. She raised Tony and his siblings largely as a single mother, and has appeared alongside the comedian at various stand-up shows. In 2016, Tony shared a photo of his mom attending one of his comedy shows in Cleveland.
“My mom drove up from Youngstown to see me perform in Cleveland and she made me take this glamour shot of her,” Tony wrote in the accompanying caption, “she’s hilarious.” The following year, Tony dedicated a segment of his stand-up special One Shot to his mother, with the title of the segment on the accompanying album being Raised by a Single Mom.
More recently, Joy appeared on a live panel episode of Tony’s podcast, Kill Tony, in which she answered questions from the crowd and laughed along as her son was roasted by fellow comedian Dave Lucas. Details around Joy’s career remain unknown, but her appearance at Tony’s shows has been met with praise from fans on social media.
A Reddit post from 2023 is filled with compliments about Joy, with fans particularly commending her for being “Tony’s biggest fan” and describing her as a “great guest” at his shows.
