Shane Gillis returned to the Saturday Night Live stage this past weekend, and his opening monologue has turned into one of the most talked-about controversies of the television season. The comedian’s jokes about women at the gym drew a wave of online outrage, pulled one of his fellow stars into the fray, and split celebrities down the middle. Days later, the Shane Gillis SNL monologue is still making headlines — and Travis Kelce’s name is now part of the story.
What Shane Gillis Said in the Shane Gillis SNL Monologue
Gillis, 38, hosted the NBC sketch show on Saturday, October 11, alongside musical guest Rosalía. During his six-minute monologue, he launched into an extended riff about how women’s gymwear has changed — and the live audience reacted with a mix of laughs and groans.
“I haven’t been to the gym in so long, I didn’t realize women just dressed like whores now,” Gillis told the crowd, per Page Six. He went on to describe the athletic wear as “neon” and like an artificial fishing-bait color, adding that “the wrinkles go around the cheeks and all combine at the butthole.”
Gillis then pivoted to the perils of looking at all: “And don’t look, you’re not allowed to look. For real, don’t look because they are filming. I’m in the background of about 10 TikToks right now,” he said.
The bit did not land quietly. Within hours, clips of the monologue were circulating widely online, and the reaction from viewers — and from some famous ones — was swift.
The F-Bomb Slip and the On-Air Apology
In a separate moment during the same broadcast, Gillis dropped an uncensored F-bomb live on air, then immediately broke the fourth wall to apologize for the gaffe. It is worth noting what that apology covered — and what it did not.
The on-air apology was for the profanity slip, not for the monologue’s jokes about women. As of writing, Gillis has not publicly apologized for or responded to the backlash over the monologue itself. Neither he nor his representatives have issued a statement about the controversy, according to reporting by Page Six.
The Backlash: Dan Levy, Ego Nwodim and Maren Morris Fire Back
Among the first celebrities to condemn the monologue was Dan Levy, the Schitt’s Creek star, who posted a video on Instagram calling Gillis a “misogynist.”
“Women wearing short shorts to the gym does not make them whores,” Levy said on Sunday, per Page Six. “It makes the men calling them whores misogynists. There’s a difference there.” He added that he had seen more men’s nipples at the gym than women showing off their bodies, and said he was “speechless” that such material aired on live national television. Levy also urged more men to stand up in opposition.
Former SNL cast member Ego Nwodim took a more satirical route, trolling Gillis on her Instagram Stories by posting a mid-workout photo of herself in a black long-sleeve, leggings and sneakers, captioned “whore reporting for duty,” per Page Six.
Country singer Maren Morris joined in as well, posting an Instagram Reel of herself giving Gillis the middle finger with the text “me being a whore at the gym,” captioned: “leave my gym short wedgie out of it.”
Travis Kelce Caught Liking the Shane Gillis SNL Monologue Video
As the controversy grew, the Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce was spotted “liking” NBC’s Instagram video of Gillis’s monologue — a small social media gesture that quickly became its own headline.
A source close to Kelce, 37, exclusively told Page Six that “he’s always been a massive fan of the show and he was supporting a friend.” Kelce hosted SNL himself in March 2023, and his connection to Gillis runs deeper: in June, Gillis made a surprise appearance at the annual Tight End University (TEU) summit in Nashville, which Kelce co-hosts with fellow NFL players George Kittle and Greg Olsen. The comedian joined the trio onstage and took part in the post-event celebrations following Taylor Swift’s performance.
Kelce’s representative did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment, and the outlet reported that the like remained a matter of public record.
Why the Like Matters
Celebrity “likes” are rarely accidental in 2026 — especially from someone with Kelce’s profile. Critics of the monologue read the engagement as tacit approval, while his defenders argue that a longtime SNL fan liking a friend’s clip is exactly what it looks like: support for a friend, not an endorsement of every joke. The source’s explanation suggests the latter, but the debate rages on regardless.
Bobby Bones Defends the Shane Gillis SNL Monologue
Not everyone is outraged. Country radio host Bobby Bones raved over the monologue on Monday’s episode of his “25 Whistles with Bobby Bones” podcast, admitting that “for the most part,” he found the bit “pretty funny.”
“He just kind of goes at it,” Bones said of Gillis. “Got to respect that he takes chances up there.” He singled out the fishing-lure joke for particular praise: “He said it looks like the color of an artificial bait, artificial lure. And I thought that was so funny.”
Bones also revealed that he had posted — and since deleted — a TikTok video about the monologue in which he told his followers that if they “don’t get the joke” about the shorts, they were “probably not from the South” or had “probably never been fishing.” He joked that the response was a flood of questions about his own appearance: “‘are you trans? Or are you a lesbian?’ Because of my hair,” he said, referring to his grown-out brown hair.
Gillis’s Complicated History With SNL
The irony of Gillis hosting the show at all is not lost on longtime viewers. In 2019, Gillis was hired as an SNL cast member — only to be fired within a week after resurfaced clips from his podcast surfaced in which he used racist and homophobic slurs. The firing was one of the show’s most public controversies of that era.
Since then, Gillis has mounted an improbable comeback with the show. He has now hosted SNL three times, and the weekend’s episode underscores just how fully he has been welcomed back into the fold — controversy or not.
What Happens Next
With the backlash still unfolding, the questions now are whether NBC addresses the controversy, whether Gillis breaks his silence on the monologue, and whether the firestorm has any staying power. SNL monologues have sparked outrage before — just ask anyone who watched last season’s SNL monologue moments that divided viewers — but the involvement of stars like Kelce, Levy, Nwodim and Morris has given this one unusual legs.
One thing is certain: the debate over where comedy ends and offense begins is far from over, and Gillis — love him or loathe him — knows exactly how to keep it going.
FAQs
What did Shane Gillis say in his SNL monologue that caused backlash?
During the October 11 episode, Gillis joked that “women just dressed like whores now” at the gym, described neon gymwear as resembling artificial fishing bait, and said he was “in the background of about 10 TikToks right now” because women film their workouts. The comments drew a mix of laughs and groans from the live audience.
Did Travis Kelce really like Shane Gillis’s SNL monologue video?
Yes — Kelce “liked” NBC’s Instagram video of the monologue. A source close to Kelce told Page Six that “he’s always been a massive fan of the show and he was supporting a friend.” The two know each other: Gillis appeared at Kelce’s Tight End University summit in Nashville in June, and Kelce hosted SNL in March 2023.
Has Shane Gillis apologized for the SNL monologue?
He apologized on air for dropping an uncensored F-bomb during the live broadcast, breaking the fourth wall to address the slip. However, as of writing, he has not publicly apologized for or responded to the backlash over the monologue’s jokes about women.
Who defended Shane Gillis’s monologue?
Country radio host Bobby Bones praised it on his “25 Whistles with Bobby Bones” podcast, calling it “pretty funny” and saying, “Got to respect that he takes chances up there.” On the other side, Dan Levy, Ego Nwodim and Maren Morris publicly criticized it.
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