The White House has waded into the contention surrounding the comedian Shane Gillis’ controversial Saturday Night Live monologue, which aired last weekend.
Gillis, 38, while guest-hosting the latest episode of the sketch show, said “I haven’t been to the gym in so long, I didn’t know that women just dress like whores now?” he said.
“You’ve seen those shorts? They’re those neon, like, artificial bait-colored, and the wrinkles go around the cheeks, and all combine at the butthole. And don’t look! You’re not allowed to look,” he said.
The monologue quickly went viral—Saturday Night Live’s post sharing the monologue has been viewed more than 11 million times.
And the monologue quickly caught backlash online and was criticized by the actor Dan Levy, who said the joke was “misogynistic.”
Now the White House has joined the conversation.
“We heard people have strong opinions on what to wear at the gym,” they wrote in a post on X, viewed more than half a million times.
Newsweek has contacted a representative for Gillis for comment outside of regular working hours.
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What The White House Posted
The White House’s post continued, “Here’s our opinion,” followed by an image showing a stick figurine wearing a MAGA cap, taking a selfie in the mirror at the gym.
It’s not unusual for the Trump administration to weigh in on backlash like this online.
In 2025, the White House Communications Director dubbed the fallout over Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle advert as “bull****,” and the White House has caught criticism online for using music from pop singers who have opposed President Donald Trump.
Fallout Over Shane Gillis’ SNL Joke Explained
Backlash to Gillis’ joke came swiftly and has percolated online over the past week.
Levy, star of the popular sitcom Schitt’s Creek, shared a viral video on Instagram where he said, “Women wearing shorts at the gym does not make them whores. It makes the men calling them whores misogynists. There’s a difference there,” he said.
He then added, “I’m speechless that something like this can exist on live national television. And to be perfectly honest, more men need to be standing up in opposition to this.”
Viola Davis and Melissa McCarthy both commented on Levy’s post with clapping hands and heart emojis. The video has been liked over two million times.
The joke also elicited a response from Gillis’ ex-girlfriend Grace Brassel, who shared Levy’s post and posted on Instagram sharing her gym routine, writing “Full Body Workout for H*es.”
Saturday Night Live alumna Ego Nwodim, who was a cast member for seven seasons from 2018 to 2025, also responded with a mirror selfie at the gym, captioned “whore reporting for duty.”
Gillis has had an embattled journey with SNL. He joined the featured cast in 2019 but was swiftly removed after clips of him using slurs and making racist and homophobic comments.
“I’m a comedian who pushes boundaries,” he said at the time.
He has since hosted SNL on three occasions.
SNL’s creator Lorne Michaels later said that he was forced to remove Gillis against his wishes by NBC executives.
He told the Wall Street Journal, “That was very strong from the people in charge. And obviously I was not on that side, but I understood it.”
Michael Che, one of the stars of SNL who anchors Weekend Update, posted to Instagram in the wake of the fallout. Che, who is currently promoting his stand-up comedy special, Michael Che: Shot in Minnesota, which premiered Tuesday.
“Gotta do more press this week to promote the special / wonder what every f****** questions gonna be about / thanks a lot shane,” he wrote on his Instagram story.
He was then asked about this during an interview on the Today Show with anchor Laura Jarrett.
“Oh no,” he said, before adding, “That’s comedy. You think it’s funny and then some people don’t.”
He added that he didn’t see the joke until the next day.
Contact Newsweek editor on this story: Edward Pearcey.