Dana Carvey says he missed the fuss over Shane Gillis's SNL monologue

Dana Carvey says he "just didn't understand the kerfuffle" over Shane Gillis's latest Saturday Night Live monologue. The former SNL star, who spent seven seasons on the long-running US sketch show from 1986 to 1993, called the routine "a joke" on his Fly on the Wall podcast with David Spade, according to Variety.

Gillis hosted SNL on Oct. 10 and opened the night with a seven-minute monologue, the opening stand-up routine that starts the show. Much of it was self-deprecating material about his appearance and weight, as reported by The New York Times. He then turned to women at the gym and the length of their shorts, saying they "just dress like whores now," according to NBC News.

The line was criticised as sexist. Actor Dan Levy was among those who publicly condemned it, saying women wearing short shorts at the gym does not make them whores, it makes the men calling them whores misogynists, according to Deadline.

Carvey addressed the fallout alongside Spade on Fly on the Wall, the podcast where the two SNL alumni take listeners behind the scenes. The discussion featured in an episode titled "Shane Gillis' Monologue Controversy + Adam Sandler," published Oct. 19.

Carvey did draw a line between rooms. He said Gillis's gym joke probably "destroyed" in comedy clubs, where a looser crowd expects that style, but conceded SNL was maybe "not the right place" for it.

Gillis has a longer history with both the show and the podcast. He has appeared as a guest on a full episode of Fly on the Wall and previously discussed his brief time as an SNL cast member, his intent in comedy and Norm Macdonald.