Shane Gillis Was Surprised by ‘SNL’ Monologue Backlash and Says He Doesn’t ‘Have a Problem’ With How Women Dress at the Gym

Shane Gillis is reflecting on his “Saturday Night Live” monologue about women’s gym attire that drew controversy.

On the Oct. 10 episode this season, the comedian’s opening monologue included jokes about how women “dress like whores now” at the gym, which inspired a wave of criticism on social media. Gillis revealed on the Nov. 13 episode of the “Joe Rogan Experience” that he was surprised by the blowback.

“The funniest part was, I was going in going — 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,’” he said. “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 fucking 10 minutes. That’s it.’”

He also said that he thinks the reaction “obviously had a lot to do with the climate” and, with regard to the gym attire, “for the record, [I] don’t have a problem with it.”

Gillis also clarified that “Saturday Night Live” gave no feedback about the joke ahead of time.

“Not to defend ‘SNL,’ they don’t approve it. I mean, they could shut it down,” he said to Rogan. “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, they write the set for them. They have writers that write the monologue for them.”

The original joke ignited criticism online and even a response from Inde Navarrette during her “SNL” monologue.

“I haven’t been to the gym in so long, I didn’t know women just dress like whores now?” Gillis said in the monologue. “Look, I’m sorry, there’s no other way to describe it. Have you seen it? I’ve seen it. The shorts. Have you seen the shorts? Those neon, they’re like artificial bait-colored. And the wrinkles go around the cheeks and all combined at the butthole. And don’t look, you’re not allowed to look. For real, don’t look because they are filming. I’m in the background of like 10 TikToks right now.”

Watch Gillis talk about the controversy on Rogan’s show below.