Kathy Griffin calls Shane Gillis a 'hack' after SNL gym joke
Kathy Griffin has criticised Shane Gillis after his third turn hosting Saturday Night Live sparked backlash over a joke about women at the gym. Griffin called Gillis and other comics around Joe Rogan "hacks", in comments reported by Deadline. The row centres on his monologue from the 10 October 2026 show.
Gillis opened the Season 52 episode, part of the 2026-2027 run, with a seven-minute monologue, according to NBC Insider. The routine focussed on getting into shape with podcast hosts Joe Rogan and Theo Von. It included a complaint that "women just dress like whores now" at the gym, specifically for wearing shorts.
Griffin told Page Six that comics in Rogan's circle all tell the same jokes, often at the expense of women. She said Gillis is not the only comic to break out under Rogan's influence. She added that many successful "hacks" now come from TikTok or the podcast world, where a following can lead to television work without the usual club circuit.
Her language was blunt. She said Gillis "looks like he can't get laid" when discussing the gym bit, as reported by Page Six. She also said she defends his right under the First Amendment, the US constitutional protection for free speech, to make the jokes. She added that other people have the same right to think less of him for it.
What makes this stand out is the turnaround. The monologue aired on 10 October and Griffin's interview was published on 14 October, four days later. The speed shows how quickly a late-night sketch show, beamed from New York to phones everywhere, can turn into a wider argument about comedy.
This was Gillis's third time hosting, after shows in 2024 and 2025. His history with the programme is longer. He was named to its featured cast, the entry-level acting troupe for new performers, in 2019 but was removed days after the announcement when resurfaced videos showed him mocking Asian accents and using ethnic and gay slurs.
The 10 October show opened with Colin Jost returning as Pete Hegseth in the cold open, the political sketch that starts the broadcast, according to NBC Insider. Saturday Night Live, the long-running late-night sketch show, is now in Season 52.
