Cecily Strong has entered the fray over Shane Gillis’ “SNL” monologue with a pointed Instagram Stories post that lampooned his joke about women in gym shorts.
Strong, 41, who spent 11 seasons on “Saturday Night Live” before exiting in 2022, shared a photo of her workout gear on Wednesday with a caption that turned Gillis’ own framing back on him. “On my way to Pilates in my new slutty ass orange shoes and rainbow socks,” she wrote. “Might sell sex on the way not sure.”
The comedian didn’t stop at satire. She connected Gillis’ remarks to a broader context that has dominated headlines this month, referencing the Cornell gang-rape case and New York’s controversial consent laws. “PS there was a gang rape at Cornell that maybe won’t count because the NY law says if you consent to drinking you consent to all that happens to you,” she added in the same post.
Strong follows former castmate Ego Nwodim, 36, who on Monday posted her own gym selfie with the caption “Whore reporting for duty,” flashing a peace sign while wearing leggings, sneakers and a long-sleeved shirt. Nwodim, who left “SNL” last year after seven seasons, continued the bit in a follow-up Instagram Story showing her breakfast with the line, “Getting my 30 grams of protein in after heauxing.”
The wave of “SNL” alumnae responses comes after Gillis, 37, hosted this past weekend’s episode and delivered an opening monologue that singled out women’s gym attire. He described shorts with “wrinkles [that] go around the cheeks and all combine at the butthole,” then warned the audience, “You’re not allowed to look. For real, don’t look, because they are filming. I’m in the background of about 10 TikToks right now.”
The backlash has extended well beyond Studio 8H veterans. “Schitt’s Creek” star Dan Levy fired back in an Instagram Reel, stating that women wearing shorts to the gym “doesn’t make them whores,” but instead makes the men calling them that “misogynists,” Levy said he was left “speechless” by the opener.
Jenna Bush Hager addressed the controversy Tuesday on “Today With Jenna & Sheinelle,” telling co-host Sheinelle Jones that she would be “disgusted” if her husband, Henry Hager, ever spoke about someone that way. “This perpetuates what is happening in our culture where people are commenting on women’s looks ad nauseam … and it’s not OK,” she said.
Kathy Griffin went further in an exclusive interview Tuesday, labeling Gillis a “hack” and grouping him with men from the “TikTok or podcast world.” Griffin, 64, didn’t hold back on her assessment of the comedian’s peer group.
“There are so many; they all look alike to me. They all look like they can’t get laid; they all sound alike to me; they all tell the same jokes … and they tell these jokes about women that are from like 100 years ago, like women should be in the kitchen and shut up and all this other stuff,” she told the outlet.
The current firestorm carries particular weight given Gillis’ history with the show. He was originally cast as an “SNL” member in 2019, but was fired just five days later when past racist and homophobic comments resurfaced. His return as host this past weekend marked a full-circle moment that has now reignited debate about the show’s vetting and who it platforms.
A rep for Gillis had no comment when reached for response.
Gillis’ 2019 firing came after podcast clips surfaced in which he used slurs and mocked Chinese accents, among other offensive material. The swift dismissal at the time was praised by some as accountability and criticized by others as cancel culture, setting up the narrative that has followed his career since.
The comedian has built a significant following in the years since, particularly through his podcast “Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast” and Netflix specials, cultivating an audience that embraces his edgier material even as it draws continued criticism from mainstream comedy figures.
Gillis is scheduled to continue his stand-up tour with upcoming dates across the Midwest and South.