Shane Gillis’s ‘tone-deaf’ SNL joke about women’s gym clothes draws outrage amid Cornell case

Shane Gillis's opening monologue on Saturday Night Live (SNL) this weekend sparked widespread outrage, with the comedian's joke about women's gym clothing drawing criticism for being "tone-deaf". Gillis, who had returned to the NBC sketch show as host for the third time, riffed on his own efforts to slim down before using a crude, derogatory word to suggest women now dress inappropriately when exercising.

The line received little laughter from the studio audience and sparked swift online backlash. The timing of the joke, coming amid a high-profile case at Cornell University where a former student accused seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity of sexual assault, amplified the criticism. Much of the backlash focused on the fact that the joke aired at a time when many women were sharing their own experiences with assault and criticizing weak institutional responses.

Critics, including actor Dan Levy and writer Jessica Valenti, argued that the problem lies with men who objectify women, not with women's clothing choices. They urged men to speak up against such objectification and pointed out that the joke was not the first of its kind, having been used for at least fifteen years without ever being performed with a punchline.