Shane Gillis isn’t exactly impressed with his own Saturday Night Live monologue.
The comedian revisited his October 10 hosting appearance during his November 13 conversation on The Joe Rogan Experience, revealing that he had anticipated his opening set wouldn’t be particularly memorable.
“I’m giving you a solid C minus of a monologue, but I promise there’s no controversy,” Gillis recalled telling people ahead of the performance.
However, one joke about women’s gym attire ended up attracting considerably more attention than he had expected.
Shane Gillis Addresses the ‘SNL’ Backlash
During his opening monologue, Gillis joked that he hadn’t visited a gym in so long that he didn’t realize women now dressed like “whores” to work out.
The remark quickly drew criticism, with viewers taking issue with his description of women exercising in revealing workout clothes.
Gillis discussed the controversy during his conversation with Joe Rogan, also addressing whether SNL had any say in the material comedians performed on the show.
“Not to defend SNL, they don’t approve it,” he explained, suggesting that comedians generally have control over their own monologues, although the show can intervene if it wants to stop a joke.
The comments followed a wave of criticism from entertainment personalities, including Schitt’s Creek star Dan Levy, who publicly objected to the joke. Former SNL cast member Ego Nwodim also appeared to respond with a pointed gym selfie caption.
Gillis Reveals How He Handled the Criticism
The comedian also compared the latest backlash with the controversy that cost him his SNL cast position in 2019.
Gillis was fired just days after NBC announced his casting when old podcast clips containing offensive remarks resurfaced.
This time, he chose to handle the online reaction differently.
“The first time I got fired, I kept social media,” Gillis recalled. “This one, I just deleted everything immediately.”
He also joked about potentially removing comedians who criticized him from his tour appearances, although he clarified that he wasn’t seriously considering doing so.