American comedian and actor Shane Gillis hosted “Saturday Night Live” for the third time Oct. 10. After the episode aired, there was some anger online about the comments Gillis made during his monologue and some of the skits that were performed.
Gillis is best known for his stand-up comedy career. He released a self-funded comedy special, “Shane Gillis: Live in Austin,” in 2021 and a Netflix special, “Beautiful Dogs,” in 2023. He also co-hosts a podcast, “Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast,” with Matt McClusker. He also stars in the comedy series, “Tires” on Netflix in 2024, and created sketch-comedy project “Gilly and Keeves” in 2020.
During his monologue, Gillis started by talking about how he has been working on losing weight. He tells a story about not liking hiking and how, when he walks by “a beautiful woman,” he has to “figure out what face to make to let her know ‘I’m not here.’” He also shared how going to the gym as a “fat guy in New York is a nightmare.”
He then went on to say that he “didn’t know women just dressed like w----- now” and called them “artificial-bait colored,” referring to spandex workout shorts. Later on in the monologue, he was talking about his sisters and referred to them as “two big, fat, b---- sisters.” There was a lot of outrage online about the comments, saying that this just further added to the misogyny accusations “SNL” had already been receiving this season.
That was not his only controversial skit of the night. The skit “Sneakers” also caused discussion. It was set in a 1920s boardroom of investors, pitching a quiet canvas and rubber-soled footwear invented for the sole purpose of sneaking. Gillis’ character goes on to say, “With these gentlemen, she’ll never hear you, and she’ll never catch you.” While it is later stated that it was meant because his wife would not hear him cheating on her, some interpreted it as a rape joke at first. The joke did not land well and led to more people taking their complaints to the internet. Although Gillis did not write the episode, this paired with his monologue is not a good look for him or “SNL.”
During a Dr. Seuss-themed sketch of “Green Eggs and Ham,” Gillis accidentally cursed during the sketch. His character was supposed to say, “He doesn’t freaking like them,” but instead he said, “Bro, it’s a non-starter. He said he doesn’t f---ing – geez – like them.”
While the profanity aired live on Peacock, “SNL” edited and muted it in online reruns on YouTube and other social media. Cast member Mikey Day improvised at the end of the sketch, telling Gillis’ character, “You’re a loser, and you said a bad word,” which did help with audience blowback, but after the first two issues, this one kind of flew under the radar.
He was hired as a cast member on “SNL” in 2019, but was fired just five days after he started. He was dismissed due to backlash from past derogatory and offensive remarks on his podcast. Gillis and McClusker had clips resurface of them from 2018, using ethnic and gay slurs. They also ranked comedians by race, gender and sexual orientation.
Gillis went on to apologize in a now-deleted post on X, “I’m a comedian who pushes boundaries ... If you go through my 10 years of comedy, most of it’s bad, you’re going to find a lot of bad misses. I’m happy to apologize to anyone who’s actually offended by anything I’ve said.”
Since the episode aired, many fellow comedians, like Dan Levy, have criticized Gillis’ misogynistic comments, as well as former “SNL” cast members Ego Nwodim and Cecily Strong. Levy called out Gillis in an Instagram reel, saying, “More men need to be standing up in opposition to it because it’s complacency that has created the environment with which women are sexually assaulted and it’s a ‘conversation’ as opposed to a ‘crime’.”
Nwodim posted on her Instagram story in a gym workout set with the caption “W---- reporting for duty.” Strong did something similar, posting a photo of her legs on her story with a long caption that says ”On my way to Pilates in my new s----- a-- orange shoes and rainbow socks. Might sell sex on the way, not sure.”
There have been many posts from the public complaining about Gillis’ comments during the show, but “SNL” and NBC have yet to comment. This whole episode of “SNL” adds to the conversations around topics like the Cornell sexual assault cases and rape culture as a whole. The topic has been discussed on a global scale recently,, and many celebrities have sympathised with victims, while trying to make a positive impact on the issue. “SNL” is no stranger to threats of being misogynistic, homophobic and racist, but the show has yet to quell these accusations, and after Gillis’ performance, there is a question of whether it ever will.
