Saturday Night Live UK took a brutal jab at Shane Gillis following backlash to his hosting gig on the show’s US counterpart.
Comedian Gillis, 38, has been heavily criticised after hosting SNL and joking about women’s gym attire, claiming he ‘didn’t know women dressed like whores now’ regarding short shorts.
Viewers of the show as well as stars such as Dan Levy have publicly called out the remarks as misogynistic.
SNL UK has been hailed as ‘legendary’ after cast member Ania Magliano took a dig at Gillis in the show.
Hosting a mock news segment, she joked: ‘A ride operator at Munich Oktoberfest was praised for giving out free cycling shorts to female riders.
‘Wearing the gym shorts will protect women from being upskirted, but it does make them vulnerable to something much worse.’
A picture of Shane Gillis appeared on screen, Maglianio continued: ‘Last week on SNL comedian Shane Gillis also caused controversy by dropping the F-bomb.
‘Oh Shane, you’re not allowed to say that, you stupid f****** c***.’
In a clip shared on Instagram, fans were quick to share how ‘proud they were to be British’ following the skit.
‘Ania is dragging SNL US. I LOVE to see it,’ sunny_place3 commented.
Jess_horsley added: ‘Knocking it out of the park week after week @aniamagliano.’
Many hailed it the ‘best joke ever,’ while others said they felt ‘patriotic’ watching it.
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James Mullinger wrote: ‘Everyone’s been trying to write the most perfect joke about this all week. @aniamagliano nailed it. 👏❤️😍.’
Merrady said this ‘healed them,’ while Josh Smith said it was ‘refreshing’ that SNL UK ‘goes where no one else dares.’
Addressing the controversy, Schitt’s Creek star Levy argued that women wearing short shorts at the gym did not make them ‘whores’, but that men calling them that were being misogynistic.
He also said he was ‘speechless’ that the joke had aired on live national television, adding that more men needed to speak out against attitudes that contribute to a culture in which women are sexually assaulted.
Former SNL cast member Ego Nwodim also appeared to respond to the controversy, sharing a photo of herself at the gym with the caption: ‘Whore reporting for duty.’