"SNL UK" is throwing shade at its American counterpart.
In its Oct. 17 episode, the British spinoff of "Saturday Night Live" took aim at Shane Gillis for his monologue on the U.S. version of the sketch show.
While hosting "SNL" on Oct. 10, Gillis sparked backlash for joking that women "dress like whores" at the gym.
During the "Weekend Update" segment of "SNL UK," Ania Magliano referenced the controversy while discussing a story about a ride operator at Oktoberfest giving women free cycling shorts.
"Wearing the gym shorts will protect women from being upskirted, but it does make them vulnerable to something much worse," Magliano said as a photo of Gillis hosting "SNL" appeared onscreen.
Magliano then joked about how Gillis accidentally used the f-word
during an "SNL" sketch. "Oh, Shane, you're not allowed to say that," Magliano said before calling Gillis "stupid" and using foul language to slam him. Unlike the U.S. version of "SNL," swear words are permitted on "SNL UK."
A number of stars previously called out Gillis for his comments about women at the gym, with Dan Levy saying via Instagram Stories, "Women wearing short shorts to the gym does not make them whores. It makes the men calling them whores misogynists."
Former "SNL" star Ego Nwodim also chimed in, captioning a gym selfie on Instagram, "Whore reporting for duty."
"Weekend Update" anchor Michael Che offered a different take. When asked about the joke on the "Today" show, Che said, "That's comedy. You think it’s funny, and then some people don’t."
Gillis has not addressed the backlash.
The "SNL UK" "Weekend Update" joke was a rare instance where the British version of the show referenced an event that had occurred on the American version. But the cold open also featured a surprising crossover: James Austin Johnson cameoing as President Donald Trump, marking the first time Johnson's Trump has appeared on "SNL UK."
The sketch depicted Trump crashing a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Freddie Meredith) and British Prime Minister Andy Burnham (George Fouracres) to tell Burnham he wants them to switch jobs.
"I take over the UK. You take America," Trump tells Burnham. "I tell you, that place is a real mess. You're going to hate it. It's an awful, awful job. It's a terrible place full of disgusting people."
Johnson's Trump also said he was bracing for a bad midterm loss, and in a meta moment, he called out "SNL UK" for recruiting Johnson to reprise Trump. He asked, "You don't have one guy who can play Trump?"
The cameo was only possible because the U.S. version of "SNL" didn't air a new episode on Oct. 17. The show won't be back until Oct. 31, with "Obsession" star Inde Navarrette as host.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'SNL UK' slams Shane Gillis, James Austin Johnson's Trump cameos
