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.
“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.
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.
“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.
“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.
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.
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