OVERSHADOWING

‘SNL’ Icon Reveals Worst Thing About Shane Gillis’ Scandal

The “SNL” mainstay finally gave his take.

Saturday Night Live star Kenan Thompson wants to “have a conversation” with the show’s MAGA-friendly host Shane Gillis if he ever returns.

During the Axios Media Trends Live summit in New York City, Thompson, 48, said that one of the worst parts of the controversy is that backlash to Gillis’ monologue eclipsed other performances in the episode. “Grace [Reiter], one of our newest cast members, had a phenomenal show, and it’s sad because nobody’s even talking about it,” Thompson said. “Even [musical guest] Rosalía is getting overshadowed because we want to go back and forth on what’s offensive and what’s not.”

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Gillis hosted SNL on Oct. 10 and said during his opening monologue, “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. Have you seen it? I’ve seen it. The shorts. Have you seen the shorts?”

The joke sparked widespread backlash from SNL veterans, Hollywood stars, musicians, and even Gillis’ ex-girlfriend. SNL U.K. star Ania Magliano called Gillis a “stupid f---ing c---” during the “Weekend Update” segment.

Thompson, the longest-running cast member in SNL history, said he would have questions if Gillis gets another chance to host the show. “I know Shane, and I don’t know him to be a mean person, necessarily. But if he were to come back, I’m sure we would have a conversation of like, ‘How do you think that went?’ And, ‘What do you think you could have done?’ Like a little kid.

“I would just sit him down and be like, ‘So what do you think we could change there, pal?’”

As for the joke itself, Thompson added, “I don’t think jokes are necessarily harmless just because they’re jokes, and you didn’t intend it to be a certain kind of way. I think you need to educate yourself on how things might impact people.”

SNL veteran Dana Carvey had a different take on the “kerfuffle” surrounding Gillis’ comments. “I just didn’t understand the kerfuffle only because, to me, I just saw it as what we call, I’ll just say it, a joke,” he said on his Fly on the Wall podcast. “When you say jokes, you’re not literally saying women are wh---s. You are literally joking. Isn’t that kind of the idea?”

Still, opposition to the joke is strong. Comedian Phoebe Robinson amassed over 70,000 likes on a video calling Gillis’ material “mediocre bulls--t.”

Schitt’s Creek star Dan Levy said in an Instagram video, “Women wearing short shorts to the gym does not make them wh---s. It makes the men calling them whores, misogynists. There’s a difference there.”

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Dana Herrnstadt Editorial Intern, Obsessed

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