Shane Gillis breaks silence on controversial ‘SNL’ monologue: ‘A solid C minus’

See more of our coverage in your search results. Shane Gillis is breaking his silence on the backlash over his controversial “Saturday Night Live” monologue. The comedian, 38, revealed that he promised “SNL” bosses there would be “no controversy” before taking the stage on Oct. 10 — only to spark outrage over a joke about women dressing like “whores” at the gym. During Friday’s episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast, Gillis claimed the NBC sketch comedy show’s producers hadn’t approved his material beforehand. Shane Gillis delivers his monologue on “Saturday Night Live” on Oct. 10. He later rated his performance as a “solid C minus.” Will Heath/NBC via Getty Images Gillis, seen on Friday’s episode of Joe Rogan’s podcast, sparked outrage over a joke about women dressing like “whores” at the gym. “Not to defend SNL, they don’t approve it. I mean, they could shut it down,” he explained. Gillis recalled assuring the show’s team that his monologue wouldn’t cause problems, despite admitting it wasn’t his best work. “I’m giving you a solid C minus of a monologue, but I promise there’s no controversy,” he remembered telling them. Gillis addressed the joke that sparked the backlash, clarifying that he doesn’t actually have a problem with women’s revealing gym attire. The “Tires” star also addressed the joke that sparked the backlash, clarifying that he doesn’t actually have a problem with women’s revealing gym attire. Gillis suggested the negative response “obviously had a lot to do with the climate” at the time. He also revealed that he handled the controversy differently than when he was famously fired from “SNL” in 2019. Shane Gillis, left, and Veronika Slowikowska participate in a “Saturday Night Live” promo on Oct. 6, days before he hosted the show. Rosalind O'Connor/NBC via Getty Images “The first time I got fired, I kept social media,” he said. “This time, I just deleted everything immediately.” During his October monologue, Gillis joked, “I haven’t been to the gym in so long, I didn’t know women just dress like whores now?” The remark sparked criticism from several celebrities, including “Schitt’s Creek” star Dan Levy. Want more celebrity and pop culture news? Start your day with Page Six Daily. Thanks for signing up! Gillis admitted he assured NBC producers his monologue would not cause problems, despite sparking backlash over a gym joke. Rosalind O’Connor/NBC via Getty Images “Women wearing short shorts to the gym does not make them whores,” Levy said in an Instagram video. “It makes the men calling them whores, misogynists.” Former “SNL” cast member Ego Nwodim also seemingly mocked the joke by sharing a gym selfie captioned, “whore reporting for duty.” However, “SNL” alum Dana Carvey defended Gillis, saying he viewed the controversial remark as simply a joke. Grace Brassel, left, and Shane Gillis perform on the set of “Saturday Night Live” in March 2025. gracebrassel/Instagram Gillis’ latest hosting gig came seven years after he was fired from “SNL” just days after being announced as a new cast member. He was dropped from the show in September 2019 after past recordings surfaced of him using racist and homophobic slurs. Despite the scandal, Gillis eventually returned to host the show in February 2024. Community Guidelines Welcome to the Page Six Community! Our community is about connecting people through open and thoughtful conversations. We want our readers to share their views and exchange ideas in a safe space. In order to do so, we've created a simple set of rules that will improve your experience. Simply put, keep it civil. Your post will/might be rejected if it contains: Spam Insults, profanity, incoherent, obscene or inflammatory language and threats of any kind Attacks on the identity of other commenters or the article's author User accounts will/might be blocked if we notice: Continuous attempts to re-post comments that have been previously moderated/rejected Racist, sexist, or homophobic comments Attempts or tactics that put the site security at risk So, how can you be a power user? Stay on topic and share your passion. Feel free to elaborate to get your point across. 'Like' or 'Dislike' when you are filled with emotions! Protect your community. Use the report tool to alert us when someone breaks the rules. Thanks for reading our community guidelines. Don't forget, freedom of speech is not the freedom of reach!