Grace Vaccaro, Staff Writer
American comedian Shane Gillis has recently found himself in controversy after his monologue on Saturday Night Live. During this monologue, Gillis stated that women who go to the gym “dress like whores.” Several comedians, celebrities, and people criticized this comment, calling it misogynistic.
Shane Gillis began his comedy career in 2012. He began competing at the Helium Comedy Club. He placed third in 2015 and then won the year after. He created Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast with Matt McCusker, which grew to be one of the most popular Patreon podcasts.
Gillis was hired by SNL, a late-night comedy show, in 2019. His career with them was short-lived, as he was fired four days later. A video resurfaced of Gillis mocking East Asian accents and using racial slurs. Gillis responded on Twitter, saying, “I’m a comedian who pushes boundaries” and that “if you go through my 10 years of comedy, most of it 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.” Gillis believed that the clips were taken out of context and that he was misunderstood. Though he was fired, he garnered lots of media attention due to the controversy.
Lorne Michaels, creator of SNL, later admitted that it was not his decision to fire Gillis; instead, it was all NBC.
In 2020, he launched a web series, Gilly and Keeves. His YouTube comedy series was ranked in the top 20 comedy specials of 2021. His Netflix special Beautiful Dogs entered the city’s top 10. He also broke two Guinness World Records for his comedy show in Lincoln Financial Field: most tickets sold and live attendance.
Despite his success and popularity, he has faced backlash for his monologue on SNL. Many felt that his comment was tone deaf, especially with the assault case happening at Cornell currently. Many SNL stars and alumni have voiced their opinion on the matter.
SNL alum Ego Nwodim posted a photo of herself at the gym on her Instagram story. She captioned the photo “whore reporting for duty.” Cecily Strong made a similar post as well. Schitt’s Creek star Dan Levy posted on Instagram, claiming that any man who calls a woman a whore for what she wears to the gym is a “misogynist.” He was “speechless” that his monologue could be allowed on “national television.” Many celebrities have liked Levy’s video in support, including Florence Pugh, Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, and Sandra Bullock.
On The View, Sara Haines said that though she tries to “defend comedy at all costs,” reflecting on the language Gillis used, it made it “easier to look at another human as an object.” She realized that sometimes people use comedy to excuse harmful messages.
Michael Che, currently on SNL, stated in an interview with the TODAY show that Gillis’ monologue was “comedy.” And that “you think it’s funny and then some people don’t.” He didn’t reveal what he thought of the joke personally.
As of October 16th, Shane Gillis has not issued a statement or response to the criticism. Lorne Michaels has also remained quiet.
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