Shane Gillis Apologizes for Dropping the F-Bomb on SNL – But That’s Not Why He’s Facing Backlash

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Shane Gillis is in hot water for several reasons after his controversial return to Saturday evening live this weekend.

The comedian, 38, raised eyebrows when he accidentally blurted out “f***” in a Dr Seuss-themed sketch on Saturday’s show.

In the sketch, Gillis plays a worried son who tries to stop Sam-I-Am, played by Andrew Dismukes, from pestering his father, Mikey Day, into eating green eggs and ham. He told Dismukes, “Brother, he ain’t no starter. He said he don’t like ’em, dammit.”

He was visibly troubled by the on-air error, which happened too quickly for NBC to censor it during the live broadcast, although it was removed from the clips posted online.

Gillis quickly apologized to the audience at the end of the show while saying goodnight to the crowd alongside musical guest Rosalia, adding, “Sorry for earlier.”

However, it seems the podcaster focused on the wrong controversy.

Gillis encountered a mountain of backlash on social media after describing women who go to the gym as “whores” in his opening monologue on the show.

“I haven’t been to the gym in so long, I didn’t realize women dress like whores now,” Gillis said at the start of the episode, prompting groans and jeers from the audience as he talked about gym clothes. “Look, I’m sorry, there’s no other way to describe it.”

One person wrote on Saturday evening live tonight and said that the women at the gym dressed like whores or that there were people in that audience who found his so-called disgusting humor funny.

“When did it become cool to call women whores because of their clothes? I stopped watching after about halfway through Shane Gillis’ monologue, it was so disgusting,” complained another, while one viewer added: “Shane Gillis now choosing of all times to do a monologue shaming ordinary women for what they wear is truly disgusting.”

Another person pointed out: “When Shane Gillis apologized it took me too long to realize it was for saying f*** and not calling women whores. »

The Independent has contacted Gillis for further comment.

Although this was his third time hosting the show, Gillis previously had a complicated history with SNL. He was hired as a cast member on the series in 2019 alongside Bowen Yang and Chloe Fineman, but was fired before even debuting after podcast clips resurfaced showing him making homophobic and racist jokes.

After his firing, Gillis apologized to “anyone truly offended” by his comedy and described himself in a statement as a “comedian who pushes boundaries.”

“If you go through my 10 years of mostly bad comedy, you’re going to find a lot of bad mistakes,” he said at the time. “I’m happy to apologize to anyone who is truly offended by anything I said. It’s never my intention to hurt anyone, but I try to be the best comedian I can be, and sometimes that requires taking risks.”