Shane Gillis returned to Saturday Night Live with a stand-up style monologue that leaned heavily on his personal life, from his weight struggles to his relationship with podcast host Joe Rogan.
Gillis opened by addressing his own body image, joking about hitting a “fat rock bottom” after noticing himself in frequent Bud Light commercials.
“I’d look up and see it on screen. I’d be like, oh no, I look like a lesbian. Gotta change,” he told the audience.
He described attempting to turn things around through hiking, recounting an awkward encounter on a trail with a woman walking alone. He also detailed a failed attempt at a public gym in New York, joking about the intimidating physiques of other gym goers and the updated equipment he no longer recognized.
He said, “Hiking was horrendous. It was one of the worst experiences. I went hiking by myself. Everyone was like, ‘You’re gonna love it. You’re gonna take in nature the whole time.’ I didn’t take in nature at all.”
The most notable portion of the monologue centered on Rogan. Gillis explained that Rogan has a private gym and sauna at his studio in Texas, which gave him a quiet place to work out without an audience.
That privacy was short lived. While relaxing alone in the sauna, Gillis said he was startled by a knock at the glass door from Rogan, along with comedians Theo Von.
“Joe just goes, hey, Theo said you looked like a gas station egg,” Gillis recalled. “And then they closed the door, they left. I didn’t even get a comeback.”
He added that the insult stuck with him, joking that he caught his own reflection in the glass immediately after and realized the comparison was accurate.
Gillis then shifted to stories about growing up with two older sisters, saying their insults were more psychological than anything he experienced from male siblings. He recounted being teased for relieving himself in the shower and being called “[ ] hips” while lying on the floor watching television as a child.
He closed the monologue with a bit about his hair loss, joking that balding has left him with a look resembling a controversial German leader’s haircut, which he said limits how he can style it for public speaking engagements.
Despite touching on relatable topics like weight loss, aging, and family teasing, the monologue was not well received by a portion of the SNL audience online.
However, Gillis’ references to Rogan were not the only part of his monologue to draw attention. The comedian faced considerable backlash for a joke about women wearing workout clothes at the gym.
“I haven’t been to the gym in so long, I didn’t realize women just dressed like [ ] now,” Gillis said before adding, “Look, I’m sorry there’s no other way to describe it.”
The remarks quickly sparked criticism online, with viewers accusing him of shaming women based on their clothing choices. The reaction continued on social media, where several viewers questioned why the joke had made it into the monologue.
The response also brought renewed attention to Gillis’ complicated history with Saturday Night Live. He was initially hired as a cast member in 2019 alongside Bowen Yang and Chloe Fineman but was fired before making his debut after past podcast clips resurfaced featuring racist and homophobic jokes.
At the time, Gillis described himself as a comedian who “pushes boundaries” and acknowledged that his material did not always land as intended. “If you go through my 10 years of comedy, most of it bad, you’re going to find a lot of bad misses,” he said, adding that his intention was never to hurt anyone.
