Comedian Shane Gillis hosted Saturday Night Live (SNL) on Saturday, October 10, 2026, and not everyone was laughing. On the live sketch comedy show, the weekly guest host delivers a monologue where most people try to be funny; but, on this episode, Gillis’ brand of humor didn’t land. What felt especially distasteful for many viewers and fellow comedians was his criticism of women at the gym—particularly how they dress.
“I haven’t been to the gym in so long, I didn’t know women just dress like wh*res now,” Gillis said. “I’m sorry, there’s no other way to describe [it],” he doubled down. He then compared the brightly colored “short-shorts” he sees women wearing at the gym to “artificial bait” you’d put on a fishing lure. “And don’t look; you’re not allowed to look,” he continued.
The monologue outraged many viewers, and they aren’t staying silent. One of the loudest voices speaking out against Gillis’ set is Dan Levy, best known for Schitt’s Creek and, more recently, Big Mistakes. The following Sunday, Levy posted a video. In it, he doesn’t name Gillis, but he addresses the behavior the SNL host perpetuated.
“Women wearing short shorts at the gym does not make them wh*res. It makes the men calling them wh*res misogynists,” Levy began. “There’s a difference there. By the way, I’ve seen more men’s nipples at the gym than I’ve ever seen women showing their bodies off.”
The actor continued, “But I’m speechless that something like that can exist on live national television. And to be perfectly honest, 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.’”
Levy emphasized that this issue affects everyone, regardless of gender. “Men need to be defending women more. This is not a women’s issue; this is an everybody issue. Because the more that men objectify women in the media, the more that other men see them as objects and treat them as objects,” he said. “They are not objects.”
Levy’s video has since gone viral, with supportive comments from celebrities like Elizabeth Banks, who said he “nailed it,” as well as everyday people thanking him for speaking up. Some SNL alums have also joined the conversation. Ego Nwodim and Cecily Strong have sarcastically shared their “sl*tty” workout attire.
Gillis is no stranger to controversy on SNL. In 2019, he was hired and then quickly dropped as a cast member after it was revealed he made homophobic jokes and used slurs against Asian people. But that hasn’t stopped him from hosting the show on three separate occasions—in 2024, 2025, and 2026 (this past Saturday).
Watch Levy’s response to Gillis below. And if you want to see how to joke about women’s clothing in a way that’s actually funny without punching down, check out Marcello Hernández—a full-time SNL cast member—and his bit about bodysuits.
Actor Dan Levy spoke out against comedian Shane Gillis after his SNL monologue tried to joke about what women wear at the gym and what it says about them. Levy argued that Gillis’ message is dangerous for everyone.
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SNL alums Ego Nwodim and Cecily Strong have also joined the conversation with a selfie of their workout clothes.
If you want to see how to joke about women’s clothing in a way that’s actually funny without punching down, check out Marcello Hernández—an SNL cast member—and his bit about bodysuits.
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Source: Dan Levy Calls Out Shane Gillis’ ‘SNL’ Monologue and Says ‘More Men Need to Be Standing Up’: ‘Speechless That Something Like That Can Exist on Live National Television’
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