Shane Gillis has finally addressed the scrutiny he's faced over his latest "Saturday Night Live" monologue.
His third time hosting the sketch series Oct. 10 was marred by a controversial remark about how women dress at gyms, saying "I haven't been to the gym in so long, I didn't know women just dress like whores now."
On a Nov. 13 episode of the "Joe Rogan Experience" podcast, the comedian, 38, said the backlash he received "obviously had a lot to do with the climate." He added that he doesn't have a problem with how women dress at the gym.
The "Madden" actor also said "SNL" did not give him feedback on the material before the episode.
"Not to defend SNL, they don’t approve it. I mean, they could shut it down. They could, but you don’t write your
set and give it to them. Unless you’re not a comedian," he told host Joe Rogan. "I’m sure non-comics, they write the set for them. They have writers that write the monologue for them."
He said he assured the team behind the show that his monologue would not be controversial, quipping that he was just "calling myself fat" for 10 minutes: "That’s it."
"The funniest part was, 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."
USA TODAY has reached out to a representative of "Saturday Night Live" for comment.
Shane Gillis' monologue slammed by several stars
Gillis' monologue drew criticism from several celebrities including former "SNL" cast members Ego Nwodim and Cecily Strong.
"Schitt's Creek" star and creator Dan Levy condemned the joke in an Oct. 12 Instagram story, saying "Women wearing short shorts to the gym does not make them whores. It makes the men calling them whores misogynists. There's a difference there."
"Obsession" star Inde Navarrette, who hosted "SNL" on Oct. 31 after Gillis' episode, acknowledged the joke in her opening monologue while talking about getting in shape for her upcoming "X-Men" movie.
"It's really important to get fit, so I've been working out a lot. Every morning, I put on my little whore outfit, and I hit the gym," Navarrette said with a smile.
In an interview with Page Six published Oct. 14, comedian Kathy Griffin said "As a comic I’m always going to fight for the First Amendment and his right to say it and yet I don’t have to like it. So, I defend his right to say it, and I also defend everyone else’s right to think less of him."
Griffin also seemed to blame podcaster host Rogan for the rise of many "hacks who are doing very well" coming from "TikTok or the podcast world." She said Gillis is "not the only guy to break out from Joe Rogan’s influence."
"There are so many; they all look alike to me. They all look like they can’t get laid; they all sound alike to me; they all tell the same joke," she added. "And they tell these jokes about women that are from like 100 years ago, like women should be in the kitchen and shut up and all this other stuff."
Shane Gillis is no stranger to 'SNL' controversy
Gillis' Oct. 10 episode marked his third time hosting. The comedian, known for his controversial stand-up material, hosted in 2024 when he joked about having family members with Down syndrome in his debut monologue.
In 2019, he was set to join the cast but was fired before the season premiere over racist comments.
At the time, longtime executive producer Lorne Michaels said "SNL" was unaware of Gillis' past "offensive, hurtful and unacceptable" language, but has since clarified it was NBC that decided to remove him.
Contributing: Taijuan Moorman and Brendan Morrow, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Shane Gillis says backlash over 'SNL' monologue 'had a lot to do with the climate'
