Shane Gillis returned to Saturday Night Live for a third hosting stint on Saturday and quickly reignited controversy with a monologue centered in part on how women dress at the gym.

Gillis, of Netflix’s Tires, drew renewed criticism after declaring, “I haven’t been to the gym in so long I didn’t know that women just dress like whores now.” He went on to describe neon gym shorts as resembling “artificial bait colors” and joked that he could not look because women were filming themselves.

“I’m in the background of like 10 TikToks right now,” he said, eventually making himself part of the punchline.

Dan Levy condemns Gillis’ monologue

Schitt’s Creek star Dan Levy was among those who publicly objected to the material.

“Women wearing short shorts at the gym does not make them whores. It makes the men calling them ‘whores’ misogynists. There’s a difference there,” Levy wrote on Instagram.

Levy added that he had seen more men’s nipples at gyms than women showing off their bodies. He also expressed disbelief that the joke had aired on live national television and argued that more men should speak out against such language.

“It’s complacency that has created the environment in which women are sexually assaulted and it’s a ‘conversation’ as opposed to a ‘crime,’” Levy wrote.

The gym routine was not the only moment from Gillis’ appearance to attract attention. Later in the episode, he dropped an F-bomb, which was subsequently edited out, and laughed off the slip. His monologue also included shout-outs to Joe Rogan, Theo Von and, to a lesser degree, Dan Soder.

SNL had seen the material before airtime

The disputed monologue was not an unexpected live-TV detour. Gillis performed essentially the same set earlier at dress rehearsal, meaning the show and NBC’s censors were aware of what he intended to say.

The Hollywood Reporter also reported that Gillis had previously performed the gym routine. At the time of that report, the monologue had reached 1.2 million views on SNL’s YouTube channel, while the sketch containing the edited F-bomb had drawn even more views.

The latest appearance continued Gillis’ complicated history with the series. SNL hired and fired him as a cast member within six weeks after older podcast jokes featuring racial and homophobic language resurfaced.

He later returned as a host. During his first stint, Gillis joked about being his mother’s “gay best friend” before discovering masturbation and said he looked as though he had family members with Down syndrome. The latter joke was followed by Gillis expressing love for a niece with the genetic condition.

His second monologue included a comparison between liberals and the Sith from Star Wars, a joke that did not land with the studio audience. Gillis has also faced scrutiny for material delivered while hosting the ESPYs.

A history of contentious host choices

Gillis’ third booking also follows a wider pattern of SNL putting divisive performers and public figures at the center of the show.

Donald Trump hosted during his 2016 presidential campaign, a decision that did not sit well with many cast members and writers. In the prior season, Louis C.K. ended his monologue with material about how much child molesters must love committing their crimes. Two years later, he was “canceled” after masturbating in front of female comics without their consent.

In 2022, Dave Chappelle used his monologue to address Kanye West’s antisemitic rants while also referencing Jewish power in Hollywood. Chappelle’s monologue is no longer available through SNL’s official YouTube channel, while the full monologues from Louis C.K. and Gillis remain there.

ShowBiz Take

The significance of Gillis’ latest controversy is that it cannot be dismissed as an unpredictable moment that caught SNL off guard. This was his third time hosting after his brief hiring and firing, and the show had already heard the monologue during dress rehearsal.

Whether viewers consider the gym bit offensive remains a matter of individual judgment, but Levy’s forceful response shows how sharply the material collided with at least part of the show’s audience. At the same time, the online viewing numbers demonstrate how controversy can generate attention for both Gillis and SNL.

For a performer whose appearances have repeatedly tested the boundaries of the show’s studio reception, the latest backlash is less a surprise than another chapter in an already uneasy relationship.