Everyone has weighed in on the Shane Gillis monologue controversy, except ‘SNL’

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As anger builds online against comedian Shane Gillis’ description of women as “whores” during his “Saturday Night Live” monologue, one party is staying noticeably absent from the conversation: “SNL” itself.

The show and its network NBC haven’t commented publicly on the backlash, nor have they responded to requests for comment. It’s a familiar playbook for “SNL,” which has often chosen to stay mum and ride out the waves of controversy that have punctured its decades-long run.

The backlash over Gillis’ monologue was, perhaps, predictable. The Philadelphia-born comic was previously fired from his role as a cast member, just a few days after his hiring was announced, after clips emerged of him using an ethnic slur against Chinese people and a mock Asian accent on his podcast, as well as gay slurs. By way of explanation, he offered that he was a “comedian who pushes boundaries.”

Gillis’ return to the series as a guest host last weekend saw him in classic form, styling himself as a beer-swilling bro, an everyman who shirks political correctness. He hasn’t been to the gym in a while, he said during his “SNL” monologue, so he should be forgiven for being surprised by how women dress to work out now: “Like whores.”

“Look, I’m sorry. There’s no other way to describe it,” he said. They wear tight shorts, he said, with the color of “artificial bait.”

“SNL” and its longtime boss Lorne Michaels – have often stayed quiet after hosts or their comments attracted backlash, never commenting, for example, on the controversy over Dave Chappelle, who has hosted the show twice since being criticized for transphobic comments he made in 2021.

While “SNL” is staying quiet, others are speaking out — both in and outside 30 Rock.

For Jessie Leo, a graphic designer who works on the long-running sketch comedy show, Gillis’ comment wasn’t just offensive. It was also indicative of an unsafe workplace. “How am I ever supposed to feel comfortable going to NBC HR after knowing the company and people I work for gave the thumbs up for Shane’s whore joke during his monologue,” she wrote on Instagram late Tuesday. “In general, but especially at a time like this with rape culture and victim-blaming assailing women from all angles right now.”

Cecily Strong, who was the longest-tenured female cast member in “SNL” history, excoriated Gillis’ cruel characterization of women on her own Instagram story. “On my way to Pilates in my new slutty ass orange shoes and rainbow socks,” she wrote above a picture of her legs in workout gear. “Might sell sex on the way not sure.”

Former “SNL” cast member Ego Nwodim cast her own shade at Gillis, writing “whore reporting for duty” on a picture of herself dressed for the gym earlier this week. On TikTok, too, dozens of women have posted images of their gym outfits with references to Gillis’ comment.

Outside of “SNL”-world, “Schitt’s Creek” star Dan Levy made a minute-and-a-half video about the monologue, saying, “Women wearing short shorts at the gym does not make them whores. It makes the men calling them whores misogynists.”

He called out other men, too. “More men need to be standing up in opposition to it because it’s complacency that has created the environment in which women are sexually assaulted and it’s a ‘conversation’ as opposed to a ‘crime,’” he said.

Like many of Gillis’ critics, Strong highlighted the timing of Gillis’ monologue. As Gillis was joking about women dressed like “whores” and working out at his friend Joe Rogan’s private gym, less than 200 miles north an investigation was unfolding into the alleged gang rape of a former undergraduate at Cornell University. The investigation into the 2024 incident, triggered after the former undergraduate filed a lawsuit, unleashed outrage and a flood of women to share similar stories of sexual violence and abuse.

威尔·希思/NBC/盖蒂图片社

喜剧演员 Shane Gillis 在《周六夜现场》的独白中将女性描述为“妓女”，引发了网络上的愤怒情绪，但有一方却明显缺席了这场讨论：那就是《周六夜现场》本身。

节目组及其播出平台NBC尚未就此次舆论反弹发表公开评论，也未回应置评请求。这对于《周六夜现场》（SNL）来说并不陌生，该节目数十年来一直选择保持沉默，静待争议的到来。

吉利斯的独白引发的强烈反弹或许在意料之中。这位出生于费城的喜剧演员此前刚被节目组解雇，就在他被聘用几天后，因为一些视频曝光，他在自己的播客节目中使用了针对中国人的种族歧视性语言、模仿亚洲口音，以及对同性恋者的侮辱性言论。对此，他解释说自己是一位“挑战底线的喜剧演员”。

吉利斯上周末以客座主持的身份回归该节目，他一如既往地展现了自己豪饮啤酒的兄弟形象，一个不拘泥于政治正确的普通人。他在《周六夜现场》的独白中说，他已经很久没去健身房了，所以他对现在女性的健身着装感到惊讶也是情有可原的：“就像妓女一样。”

“听着，我很抱歉。我实在找不到其他词来形容了，”他说。他们穿着紧身短裤，颜色就像“人造鱼饵”。

《周六夜现场》(SNL) 及其长期老板洛恩·迈克尔斯 (Lorne Michaels) 在主持人或其言论引起强烈反对后，经常保持沉默，例如，从未对戴夫·查普尔 (Dave Chappelle) 的争议发表评论。自 2021 年因发表恐跨性别言论而受到批评以来，查普尔已经主持过两次该节目。

虽然《周六夜现场》保持沉默，但其他人都在发声——无论是在洛克菲勒中心内部还是外部。

对于长期参与这档长寿小品喜剧节目的平面设计师杰西·利奥来说，吉利斯的言论不仅令人反感，更反映出工作场所的不安全感。“在得知公司和同事们都对肖恩在独白中开的那个关于妓女的玩笑表示赞同之后，我以后怎么可能安心地去NBC的人力资源部门投诉呢？”她周二晚些时候在Instagram上写道，“尤其是在当下这种强奸文化盛行、受害者有罪论四面八方攻击女性的时期。”

塞西莉·斯特朗是《周六夜现场》历史上任职时间最长的女演员，她在自己的Instagram故事中严厉谴责了吉利斯对女性的残酷刻画。“穿着我新买的性感橙色鞋子和彩虹袜子去上普拉提课的路上，”她在一张自己穿着运动服的腿的照片上方写道。“说不定路上会卖点色情的东西，不确定。”

前《周六夜现场》（SNL）演员伊戈·恩沃迪姆（Ego Nwodim）也对吉利斯进行了回击，本周早些时候，她在自己一张健身照上写道“妓女前来报到”。在TikTok上，也有数十名女性发布了自己的健身服照片，并附上了对吉利斯言论的回应。

在《周六夜现场》之外，《富家穷路》主演丹·列维制作了一段一分半钟的视频，谈到了这段独白，他说：“女性在健身房穿短裤​​并不代表她们是妓女。真正让那些称她们为妓女的男人成为厌女者。”

他还点名批评了其他男性。“更多的男性需要站出来反对这种行为，因为正是这种自满情绪才造成了女性遭受性侵犯的环境，而这却被当作一种‘讨论’，而不是一种‘犯罪’，”他说。

与许多吉利斯的批评者一样，斯特朗也强调了吉利斯这段独白的时机。就在吉利斯拿穿着“妓女”般服装的女性在他朋友乔·罗根的私人健身房锻炼开玩笑时，不到200英里以北，康奈尔大学一名本科生遭到轮奸的案件正在调查中。这起发生在2024年的案件，是在该本科生提起诉讼后展开的，调查结果引发了公众的强烈愤慨，并促使大量女性讲述她们遭受类似性暴力和性虐待的经历。