Shane Gillis Explains Why SNL Didn’t Cut His Monologue Despite ‘No Controversy’ Pledge

Shane Gillis is speaking out about the fallout from his Saturday Night Live opening monologue one month after the episode aired.

After drawing controversy by saying women at the gym “dress like whores,” the comedian explained why NBC’s sketch series did not remove the joke from the Oct. 10 episode he hosted.

“Not to defend SNL, they don’t approve it. I mean, they could shut it down,” he said on The Joe Rogan Experience. “They could, but you don’t write your set and give it to them. Unless you’re not a comedian. I’m sure non-comics have writers who write the monologue for them.”

Gillis added: “The funniest part was, they were like, ‘What’s going on with the monologue?’ And I was like, ‘It’s not great, but I don’t say anything bad.’ The whole time, I was like, ‘Fellas, I’m giving you a solid C-minus of a monologue, but I promise there’s no controversy. I’m calling myself fat for 10 minutes. That’s it.’”

Gillis, who was fired from the cast before his first episode in 2019, said the “hard part” about the latest controversy was not knowing what people were saying on social media.

“The first time I got fired, I kept social media, and in my head I was like, ‘That guy talked shit,’” he said. “This one I just deleted everything immediately. So, I don’t really know.”

Gillis joked that he considered “bumping” comedians who criticized him from their tour dates, “but I’m not going to do that. That was my agent joking around suggesting that, and I was like, ‘I don’t think anyone touring talks shit. So what am I going to take?’”

Since the poorly received SNL episode, several comedians and actors have criticized Gillis, including Kathy Griffin, Dan Levy and Inde Navarrette on the following week’s episode, as well as SNL alum Ego Nwodim and SNL UK’s Ania Magliano on the British show’s “Weekend Update.”

Gillis’ latest SNL hosting appearance follows previous stints in 2024 and 2025, after he was removed from the NBC sketch series’ featured cast days after being announced in 2019. The decision came in response to resurfaced videos of Gillis mocking Asian accents and using ethnic and gay slurs.

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