“Saturday Night Live” veteran Kenan Thompson has spoken out about Shane Gillis’ controversial monologue, which sparked social media outrage over a joke about women dressing like “whores” at the gym.
“I know Shane, and I don’t necessarily know that he’s a mean person,” Thompson said during the Axios Media Trends Live summit. “But if he came back (to ‘SNL’), I’m sure we’d have a conversation like, ‘How do you think that went?’ Do you see what I mean? And: “What do you think you could have done?” Like a little child, you know? I would just sit him down and say, “So what do you think we could change there, buddy?” »
Thompson said monologue is about “finding the balance between the two things – allowing creative freedoms but also watching your step when it comes to harmful words.”
He lamented that although the Internet focused on “one specific word,” the rest of the monologue and the rest of the episode were “overshadowed” by the negative reaction.
“Grace (Reiter), one of our newest cast members, had a phenomenal show, and it’s sad because no one talks about it,” Thompson said. “Even (musical guest) Rosalía gets overshadowed because we want to go back and forth on what’s offensive and what’s not.”
Thompson stressed that it was “not my decision” as to whether Gillis would be invited back to host “SNL,” but “if he were to come back, then I think we should have some sort of real discussion where people’s actions don’t put us in common.”
While Gillis’ monologue drew laughs within Studio 8H, the online reception hasn’t been as friendly, with celebrities like Dan Levy calling out the comedian and implying he’s a “misogynist.” Recent “SNL” alums like Ego Nwodim and Cecily Strong criticized Gillis for the joke, while comedian Dana Carvey defended Gillis and said he “didn’t understand the brouhaha.”
Sitting next to Thompson at the Axios summit was Peter Micelli, CEO and co-founder of Range Media Partners, which represents Gillis. Micelli defended the role of comedians in “testing the limits” and criticized the media for promoting headlines that “create fear and anxiety.”
“Every time Shane Gillis gets up there and you watch his monologue, he’s mostly laughing at himself the whole time, and he’s a lovely human being. Shane is a wonderful man. Comedians test the limits, and if they don’t test the limits, guess what? No one will watch them,” Micelli said. “Comedians need space to do things that make us laugh. … Let’s let artists be artists. Let artists create. … Artists tell us the truth, so now more than ever we need to support artists to push those boundaries (and) relax a little. It’s a balance we desperately need.”
A representative for Gillis declined to comment.
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