Last night's episode of Saturday Night Live was always going to be a tricky one to navigate. After a few weeks of wondering "When is the next episode of SNL?" the sketch-comedy show returned on February 24 with a brand-new episode, this one hosted by a controversial comedian: Shane Gillis.
Once upon a time, the 36-year-old comic was actually a member of the SNL cast back in 2019—that it, until recordings of him using racist and homophobic language resurfaced online and he was fired a mere four days into his show tenure. However, Saturday Night Live having a history of courting contentious guest hosts, from Elon Musk to Donald Trump, Gillis was invited back to Studio 8H as a host this week, with musical guest 21 Savage.
And for the most part, it was a largely forgettable episode of the program, save for that disastrous opening monologue. As is tradition when most stand-up comedians host the show, Gillis decided to forgo any song-and-dance numbers or high-production bits and instead chose to simply grab a mic and tell some jokes as his way of welcoming viewers in for this week's edition.
He addressed his firing early on, joking: “Most of you probably have no idea who I am. I was actually—I was fired from this show a while ago. But if, you know, don’t look that up, please, if you don’t know who I am. Please, don’t Google that. It’s fine. Don’t even worry about it.” However, despite seemingly wanting to quickly sidestep that scandal, Gillis then segued into his usual brand of politically incorrect comedy, including jokes about being gay and punchlines about his niece with Down syndrome.
With only a smattering of laughs, the in-studio audience seemed very uneasy with Gillis' jokes—many fans noted that the band onstage behind the comic barely cracked a smile throughout the monologue—so much so that the host broke from his routine to acknowledge that his button-pushing humor wasn't made for NBC: “Look, I don’t have any material that can be on TV, all right? I’m trying my best. Also, this place is extremely well-lit. I can see everyone not enjoying it.”
You can watch the "cringy" monologue for yourself with a Peacock subscription.
SNL fans are roasting that Shane Gillis monologue
Along with that less-than-glowing reception from the studio audience, Saturday Night Live fans quickly took to social media with their own reactions to Shane Gillis' exceedingly "awkward" monologue:
the band behind shane gillis not laughing at all makes this hilarious opening monologue even funnier pic.twitter.com/2VlbkmRyCTFebruary 25, 2024
Shane Gillis during his SNL monologue trying to judge the audience’s laughs: pic.twitter.com/lcEPAonLYiFebruary 25, 2024
Nothing has convinced me that there is in fact two Americas than Shane Gillis SNL monologue. I can't conceive of any world in which that was funny.February 25, 2024
Shane Gillis SNL Monologue just leaked pic.twitter.com/xBbhf3lyN6February 22, 2024
I love watching the facial expressions & body language of the band behind the hosts when they bomb their monologue on #SNL. The guitarist’s unchanging annoyed face throughout Shane Gillis’ entire 10 min opening train wreck was by far the most entertaining part of the entire show.February 25, 2024
Me while watching #ShaneGillis’ monologue:#SNL pic.twitter.com/TKpP0v9wUxFebruary 25, 2024
Shane Gillis during that opening monologue. #SNL @nbcsnl @Shanemgillis pic.twitter.com/ZgpkTMX6kaFebruary 25, 2024
Me and my girlfriend watching Shane Gillis' SNL monologue pic.twitter.com/ym0MXKWMgXFebruary 25, 2024
“Until someone builds a bigger bomb than Shane Gillis’ SNL monologue” pic.twitter.com/kjYN70qB5PFebruary 25, 2024
That Shane Gillis monologue was the most awkward thing I’ve watched since Scott’s Tots #SNLFebruary 25, 2024
Just watched the Shane Gillis monologue pic.twitter.com/zgOeWi9JIgFebruary 25, 2024
The Shane Gillis monologue 😬 #SNL pic.twitter.com/STSnBVEdTCFebruary 25, 2024
