Dan Levy has criticised Shane Gillis after the comedian used a misogynistic slur about women during his latest Saturday Night Live monologue, saying more men need to speak up when women are objectified.
Schitt’s Creek co-creator and actor Dan Levy says he was “speechless” that Saturday Night Live aired a joke in which comedian Shane Gillis called women at the gym “whores”.
Gillis, hosting the 10 October episode, joked during his opening monologue that he had not been to the gym in so long that he “didn’t know women just dress like whores now”.
He then continued with material about women’s workout shorts and men supposedly being told not to look.
Levy responded in an Instagram Reel the following evening.
“Women wearing short shorts at the gym does not make them whores,” he said.
“It makes the men calling them whores misogynists.”
He also joked that he had seen “more men’s nipples at the gym” than women showing off their bodies.
‘More men need to be standing up’
Levy’s criticism went beyond whether the joke was funny.
“I’m speechless that something like that can exist on live national television,” he said.
He argued that men need to be more willing to challenge misogynistic language and objectification.
“More men need to be standing up in opposition to it,” Levy said.
“This is not a women’s issue, this is an everybody issue.”
Levy also linked that wider culture of objectification to the way violence and sexual assault against women are discussed.
That connection is Levy’s own argument, rather than an established causal conclusion from Gillis’ monologue itself, but it formed the central point of his response.
Gillis’ complicated SNL history
The appearance marked another chapter in Gillis’ unusual relationship with Saturday Night Live.
He was hired as a featured performer in 2019 but dropped before appearing on the programme after clips resurfaced from his podcast in which he used racist and anti-gay slurs.
Gillis later returned as host in February 2024, again in March 2025, and for a third time in October 2026.
His latest monologue sparked a fresh wave of criticism online, particularly over the comments about women’s bodies and gym clothing.
Some viewers defended Gillis on the grounds that the remarks were part of a comedy routine, while others argued that using a misogynistic slur as the premise of a joke simply reinforced the behaviour Levy was criticising.
Levy has hosted SNL himself
Levy is no stranger to the SNL stage.
He hosted the show in 2021 following the global success of Schitt’s Creek, the queer-inclusive sitcom he co-created with his father, Eugene Levy.
The series became especially beloved among LGBTQ+ audiences for its depiction of David Rose’s pansexuality and his relationship with Patrick Brewer without making homophobia the centre of their story.
This time, Levy was watching from the other side of the screen — and clearly did not like what he heard.
His message was straightforward: calling women degrading names for what they wear is not something men should simply shrug off as a joke.
