ULTIMATE DECIDER

Emmy Winner Blames Lorne Michaels for MAGA-Friendly ‘SNL’ Host Debacle

The actress said a documentary about the show’s boss revealed Lorne Michaels’ true nature.

Actress Martha Plimpton thinks critics of Shane Gillis’ opening monologue on Saturday Night Live are pointing their fingers in the wrong direction.

The Emmy-winning star of Netflix’s East of Eden posted a video on Tuesday slamming the show’s creator, Lorne Michaels, for Gillis comments about women’s gym attire, which have drawn accusations of misogyny.

“This Shane Gillis guy who I’ve never heard of, who said some really f---ing stupid s--t live on air on SNL on Saturday… He deserves a spanking from his mama,” she said. But, she added, “Lorne needs some more women in that room making decisions.”

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Plimpton’s comments come after Gillis said during his third hosting stint on the show, “I haven’t been to the gym in so long I didn’t know women just dress like wh---s now? I’m sorry, there’s no other way to describe it.” He went on, “Have you seen it? I’ve seen it. The shorts. Have you seen the shorts? Those neon, they’re like artificial bait-colored. And the wrinkles go around the cheeks and all combined at the butthole. And don’t look; you’re not allowed to look. For real, don’t look because they are filming. I’m in the background of like 10 TikToks right now.”

Gillis, who was fired from the series before he could debut in 2019 for making racist and homophobic comments, has faced backlash from SNL alums and other celebrities. But Plimpton said Michaels allowed the comments to air.

“I just happened to watch this documentary about Lorne Michaels,” she explained, referring to Morgan Neville’s 2026 film Lorne. “There was one scene that took place in Lorne’s office, where in between the rehearsal taping and the live show, a bunch of people gather in Lorne’s office to decide what’s gonna get cut and what’s gonna make it to air… it was all white men in the room deciding.”

The Daily Beast has reached out to Michaels for comment.

Plimpton, who won an Emmy for her role on The Good Wife, added, “I don’t know the proclivities of everyone in that room. I think it’s possible maybe one or two of them are gay, but I don’t know. But the point is, it was all white men—no women. No people of color.”

Plimpton’s take follows mockery and complaints from SNL alums Ego Nwodim, Cecily Strong, Grammy-winning musician Maren Morris, Schitt’s Creek actor Dan Levy, and more, who either accused Gillis of amplifying rhetoric that makes women more vulnerable to sexual assault or simply slammed his material as unfunny.

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Gillis ended his third hosting stint on the show by walking offstage early during the “goodnights” segment.

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Eboni Boykin-PattersonEntertainment Reporter

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