Kathy Griffin has torn into Shane Gillis as a “hack” while defending his right to offend.
The comedian, 65, unloaded on the “Saturday Night Live” host and a wave of male comics she says all blend together in an exclusive interview on Tuesday. Griffin slammed Gillis’ recent monologue mocking women at gyms, yet insisted she would still protect his freedom to deliver it.
“I think as a comic I’m always going to fight for the First Amendment and his right to say it and yet I don’t have to like it,” she told the outlet.
“So, I defend his right to say it, and I also defend everyone else’s right to think less of him.”
Gillis, who hosted “SNL” this past Saturday, drew fire for jokes about female gymgoers wearing neon athletic shorts. He described “those neon… Artificial-bait color” shorts with “wrinkles [that] go around the cheeks and all combine at the butthole,” and 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.” He also dropped an uncensored F-bomb later in the broadcast.
Griffin connected Gillis to a broader trend of comics emerging from podcast and TikTok culture under Joe Rogan’s influence. “He’s not the only guy to break out from Joe Rogan’s influence,” she continued. “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.”
The Emmy winner named Rogan explicitly as she traced what she sees as a cookie-cutter aesthetic and sensibility among this cohort. “There are a lot of hacks who are doing very well, and they come from TikTok or the podcast world,” she explained.
Griffin drew a sharp distinction between protecting speech and endorsing the speaker. Her remarks arrived as other celebrities also pushed back against Gillis’ monologue. “Schitt’s Creek” star Dan Levy took to Instagram to counter the bit, writing, “Women wearing short shorts to the gym does not make them whores. It makes the men calling them whores misogynists. There’s a difference there.” “SNL” alum Ego Nwodim also criticized Gillis, according to reports.
The “My Life on the D-List” star rejected the “woke” label she anticipated would be thrown at critics like her. “I think it’s important that comedians evolve and change with the times,” she explained, “and if that means taking certain words (out) that you used to use…” She admitted her own past language had shifted dramatically. “I used many words that horrify me (now), but I don’t use them now. I want to think that I’m still learning.”
Gillis first joined “SNL” in 2019 but was fired within a week after podcast clips resurfaced showing him using racist and homophobic slurs. His return as host this weekend marked a full-circle moment for the comic, who has built a following through his “Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast” and stand-up specials despite the earlier controversy.
Griffin herself has weathered her own storms in comedy, including a 2017 photo scandal that cost her jobs and sponsorships. Her current tour includes a Friday appearance at The Town Hall in New York City.
A representative for Gillis did not immediately respond to the outlet’s request for comment on Griffin’s remarks.
Griffin is currently on tour and will be appearing at The Town Hall on Friday.