Cheery Shane Gillis reemerges after getting canceled for misogynistic monologue
A cheery Shane Gillis reemerged on the red carpet weeks after sparking uproar over his misogynistic SNL monologue.
Gillis, 38, who said female gymgoers ‘just dress like w****s now’ during the comedy show last month, put on a smile as he attended the premiere of his new Prime film Madden in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
The new movie follows the life of the late football coach and commentator John Madden and Gillis has the role of Vince McGary.
Weeks have now passed since the controversy erupted but the world has not yet forgotten Gillis’ remarks, with Obsession star Inde Navarrette even referencing them during this past weekend’s SNL episode.
Yet Gillis did not let the backlash stop him from supporting Madden alongside his castmates at The Culver Theater in downtown Culver City.
The suited-up comedian flashed a smile while walking the red carpet and mingling with co-star John Mulaney and comedian Nick Kroll.
A cheery Shane Gillis remerged on the red carpet weeks after sparking uproar over his misogynistic SNL monologue
While guest-hosting the latest episode of the NBC sketch show, Gillis, 38, performed a bit saying that female gymgoers ‘just dress like w****s now’
The Daily Mail has contacted a representative for Gillis for comment.
Gillis’ latest appearance on Saturday Night Live earned the most live viewers of the three times he has hosted the show, with an average of 4.4 million people watching the episode, according to Nielsen ratings licensed by the outlet Late Nighter.
The comedian also incurred the wrath of countless viewers offended by his remarks.
In his monologue, Gillis mocked himself for ‘going to the public gym as a fat guy’ surrounded by ‘the hottest gay guys you’ve ever seen,’ before saying: ‘Also, I haven’t been to the gym in so long, I didn’t know women just dress like w****s now.’
He continued with a smile: ‘Look, I’m sorry, there’s no other way to describe – have you seen it? I’ve seen it. The shorts? Have you seen the shorts?’
Gillis earned laughs describing the activewear as ‘neon’ and ‘artificial bait-colored’ with wrinkles that ‘go around the cheeks and all combine at the butthole.’
He quipped: ‘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.’
As a social media furor erupted over the monologue, Gillis was vociferously denounced in an Instagram video by Schitt’s Creek star Dan Levy.
‘Women wearing short shorts at the gym does not make them w****s. It makes the men calling them w****s misogynists. There’s a difference there,’ said Levy.
The new movie follows the life of the late football coach and commentator John Madden and Gillis has the role of Vince McGary
Gillis didn’t let the backlash stop him from publicly supporting his new film
He mingled with co-star John Mulaney and fellow comedian Nick Kroll
The suited-up comedian flashed a huge smile while walking the red carpet
‘By the way, I’ve seen more men’s nipples at the gym than I’ve ever seen women showing their bodies off,’ observed the son of SCTV icon Eugene Levy.
‘But I’m speechless that something like that can exist on live national television. And to be perfectly honest, more men need to be standing up in opposition to this, because it’s complacency that has created the environment with which women are sexually assaulted and it’s a “conversation” as opposed to a crime.’
Gillis however was defended by SNL legends David Spade and Dana Carvey.
On their podcast Fly on the Wall, Carvey, who starred on Saturday Night Live from 1986 to 1993, argued that Gillis’ wisecrack was not meant to be taken ‘literally’ and expressed disquiet at those who leap from finding a joke unfunny to believing it ‘should not be allowed to be said.’
His co-host Spade, who was in the cast of Saturday Night Live from 1990 to 1996, indicated his exasperation at the public outrage and suggested that ‘we just relax.’
Gillis made headlines in 2019 when he was hired to join the cast of SNL, only to be fired over resurfaced podcast clips of his politically incorrect comic bits, including one in which he used the ethnic slur ‘ch**k.’
Since Gillis was hired at the same time as Bowen Yang, the first SNL cast member of Asian descent, the jokes elicited an even stronger reaction.
Gillis issued a statement noting he is a ‘comedian who pushes boundaries,’ while offering ‘to apologize to anyone who’s actually offended by anything I’ve said.’
In the ensuing years, Gillis rose back to showbiz success, and by 2023 he released a stand-up special that made the Netflix Top 10 in five countries.