Shane Gillis's 'SNL' Monologue Sparks Online Debate as Travis Kelce's Instagram Like Draws Attention
On the night of October 10, comedian Shane Gillis hosted NBC's Saturday Night Live for the third time, from Studio 8H at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York. His opening monologue included a joke about how women dress at the gym, using a derogatory term. The show's official account later posted the monologue clip on Instagram, where, according to EssentiallySports, it has drawn about 134,000 likes, and the bit has kept drawing debate on social media since.
The debate widened on October 13, when multiple outlets noted that the account of Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift's husband, had liked the clip, prompting many Swift fans to post their displeasure on X and Threads. Page Six reported a source saying Kelce is a longtime fan of the show and that the like was about supporting a friend; sports outlet OutKick noted that the like later appeared to no longer be visible. As of the reports published on October 13, neither Kelce nor Gillis had publicly addressed the reaction.
Several public figures criticized the monologue first. Actor Dan Levy posted an Instagram video arguing that women who wear short shorts to the gym should not be called derogatory names, and urged more men to speak up; singer Maren Morris responded in a TikTok video; former SNL cast member Ego Nwodim posted a gym selfie to her Instagram story with a self-mocking caption; and host Jenna Bush Hager said on air that she did not find the monologue acceptable. On the other side, former cast member Jay Pharoah left an encouraging comment under the show's official post.
Gillis's history with the show goes back years: in 2019 he was announced as a new cast member, then removed before the season premiere after controversial remarks from earlier podcasts resurfaced; he has since returned three times as a host. In June this year, he also appeared at Tight End University, the annual Nashville event Kelce co-hosts with fellow NFL players.
(Sources: reports published around October 13 by USA TODAY, Parade, Page Six and EssentiallySports, and public posts on Instagram, X and other social platforms.)
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
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