Shane Gillis’ ‘SNL’ monologue slammed as sexist for comments about women
NBC News · LC · trust 39/100
Gillis appeared to draw few laughs from the studio audience after making the remark during the monologue, which marked his third time hosting the NBC sketch comedy show. (“SNL” airs on NBC, a division of NBCUniversal, which is also the parent company of NBC News.)
After lamenting that he needs to lose weight, he went on to describe the “neon, artificial-vape colored” shorts that women are wearing to work out, and the fact that men are not allowed to look at women in those shorts.
The bit drew an outpouring of backlash toward Gillis online, with hundreds of people sharing their negative reactions on TikTok, Instagram, X and Threads.
Representatives for “SNL” and Gillis did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Gillis, who is known for his raunchy style of comedy , has a history of placing women — and other marginalized groups — at the butt of jokes. Many people called it tone-deaf of Gillis to make such comments following the reports around a former Cornell University student who alleged she was gang-raped at an on-campus fraternity house in 2024.
Among the chorus of vocal critics was actor Dan Levy, who on Sunday posted an Instagram video in which he said, “Women wearing short shorts at the gym does not make them whores. It makes the men calling them whores misogynists. There’s a difference there.”
Levy, who created and starred in “Schitt’s Creek,” said he is “speechless that something like that can exist on live national television.”
“And to be perfectly honest,” Levy continued, “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.”
Levy called on men to defend women more often and said it is not a women’s issue — “this is an everybody issue,” he added.
“The more that men objectify women in the media, the more that other men see them as objects and treat them as objects,” he said. “They are not objects. They are superior human beings to men.”
Some used Gillis’ monologue to show solidarity for Cornell’s Jane Doe, who accused seven Chi Phi fraternity members of plying her with drugs before sexually assaulting her overnight following a fraternity party.
As the investigation made headlines, women began sharing their own experiences with sexual assault on campus and what they say were inadequate responses from their universities and their police departments, with some coalescing around the hashtag #iamjanedoe.
Writer Jessica Valenti said that she thinks Gillis was probably aware about the “major national conversation happening right now about sexual assault” in relation to the Cornell case.
FOR SUBSCRIBERS Attack on Saudi airport dials up pressure on D.C. FOR SUBSCRIBERS Republican attempts to trip up James Talarico keep backfiring FOR SUBSCRIBERS Another Hormuz? What to know about the Houthi threat to the Red Sea FOR SUBSCRIBERS GOP ad buyer mixes up Portlands, spends money meant to help Maine Sen. Susan Collins in Oregon FOR SUBSCRIBERS Jane Doe’s night started with catching up. It ended with a frat party that changed everything. FOR SUBSCRIBERS ‘Trump never cared about us’: Ukraine smarts at U.S. pressure and deal with Putin FOR SUBSCRIBERS Facing smaller crowds and low approval ratings, Trump tries to rally the base FOR SUBSCRIBERS Across both parties, Black candidates look to make history in governor’s races FOR SUBSCRIBERS Abortion isn’t top of mind for voters, but Democrats are betting it could motivate their base FOR SUBSCRIBERS Flock ‘false flags’ lead to frightening motorist encounters with police FOR SUBSCRIBERS Inside one country’s ambitious campaign to plant 50 billion trees FOR SUBSCRIBERS One year on, Gaza ceasefire exists ‘in name only,’ aid groups say amid near-daily Israeli strikes FOR SUBSCRIBERS Bad blood spills over in the Texas Senate race — and it’s tearing Republicans apart FOR SUBSCRIBERS OpenAI said it solved hundreds of math problems. The results are dividing mathematicians. FOR SUBSCRIBERS Daytime Russian strikes on Kyiv shatter residents’ illusion of safety Slide 1 of 1 “This is his contribution to that conversation,” she said. “This is him telling us what he thinks of the discourse on sexual assault. ... That is rape culture.”
FOR SUBSCRIBERS Attack on Saudi airport dials up pressure on D.C. FOR SUBSCRIBERS Republican attempts to trip up James Talarico keep backfiring FOR SUBSCRIBERS Another Hormuz? What to know about the Houthi threat to the Red Sea FOR SUBSCRIBERS GOP ad buyer mixes up Portlands, spends money meant to help Maine Sen. Susan Collins in Oregon FOR SUBSCRIBERS Jane Doe’s night started with catching up. It ended with a frat party that changed everything. FOR SUBSCRIBERS ‘Trump never cared about us’: Ukraine smarts at U.S. pressure and deal with Putin FOR SUBSCRIBERS Facing smaller crowds and low approval ratings, Trump tries to rally the base FOR SUBSCRIBERS Across both parties, Black candidates look to make history in governor’s races FOR SUBSCRIBERS Abortion isn’t top of mind for voters, but Democrats are betting it could motivate their base FOR SUBSCRIBERS Flock ‘false flags’ lead to frightening motorist encounters with police FOR SUBSCRIBERS Inside one country’s ambitious campaign to plant 50 billion trees FOR SUBSCRIBERS One year on, Gaza ceasefire exists ‘in name only,’ aid groups say amid near-daily Israeli strikes FOR SUBSCRIBERS Bad blood spills over in the Texas Senate race — and it’s tearing Republicans apart FOR SUBSCRIBERS OpenAI said it solved hundreds of math problems. The results are dividing mathematicians. FOR SUBSCRIBERS Daytime Russian strikes on Kyiv shatter residents’ illusion of safety Slide 1 of 1 Others, like writer and comedian Sophia Benoit , said Gillis’ joke about how women dress at the gym was not funny.
It “has been a very common joke for AT LEAST fifteen years, and it has never once that I can recall been performed with a punchline,” she wrote on…
Read the original at NBC News →
Open in TruthVane →