Carl Kinsella

THE WEEKEND BEFORE last, comedian Shane Gillis’ Saturday Night Live performance created the biggest stir of any guest since Sinead O’Connor tore up a picture of Pope John Paul II.

There were some key differences, however. O’Connor, for one, was pilloried by the US public for bravely drawing attention to rampant institutional child sex abuse by the Catholic Church. Gillis, on the other hand, is being criticised for calling women whores for wearing what they want to the gym. 

“I haven’t been to the gym in so long, I didn’t know women just dressed like whores now,” Gillis said. Gillis’ material on female clothing was naturally deemed to be offensive by many — antiquated and creepy in its worldview, awkward in its delivery and utterly hackneyed in its content. 

Gillis’ history with SNL is a controversial one. The comedian, was hired as a cast member on the show back in 2019 but was sacked before he ever made an appearance, over offensive comments he’d made on podcasts throughout his early career. However, Gillis has since gone on to massive success in his own right, putting out a stand-up special on Netflix and starring in three seasons of the sitcom Tires, which he created. He has since been invited back to host the show he was fired from on three different occasions.

While offensive in a different way, Gillis went on to break another SNL taboo by saying the f-word in a later sketch, earning him further criticism.

Gillis also has a history of awkward performances. If you go through the entire catalogue of Hot Ones interviews (the YouTube video series where celebrities are interviewed while eating increasingly spicy chicken wings) his is surely the most stilted, coming across as if he’d rather be anywhere else. His monologue at the ESPY Awards (sports awards organised by ESPN) in 2025 was similarly uncomfortable in parts, at one point saying of New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick: “He won six Super Bowls. He’s dating a hot 24-year-old. Maybe if you guys won six Super Bowls, you wouldn’t be sitting next to a fat, ugly dog wife.”

While there was no episode of SNL US on Saturday, the drama took another turn when the Weekend Update segment of SNL UK took aim at Gillis over his performance on the show’s US parent. 

“A ride operator at Munich Oktoberfest was praised for giving out free cycling shorts to female riders. Wearing the gym shorts will protect women from being up-skirted, but it does make them vulnerable to something much worse,” said Ania Magliano, co-anchor of the Weekend Update segment, while a still-image of Gillis doing his monologue appeared on-screen.  

It’s a move that sets the UK version of the show apart from the behemoth from which it was spawned. The US version of the show is in its 52nd year now and not especially well known for its biting humour, and in only a few short episodes the UK edition of the show has done more than its progenitor to include jokes critical of Israel over its genocide in Palestine. 

In that spirit, it is perhaps no surprise that Magliano went a step further in hitting Gillis during her Weekend Update, adding: “Last week on SNL, comedian Shane Gillis also caused controversy by dropping the F-bomb. Oh Shane, you’re not allowed to say that, you stupid fucking cunt.”

The next episode of SNL doesn’t air in the United States until 30 October. Following Sinead O’Connor’s famous performance, the next guest host Joe Pesci shamefully implied that he would like to hit her for what she did, drawing cheers from the crowd.

There was nothing brave about Gillis’ routine. Whether he is subject to that same kind of vitriol next week remains to be seen.