Joe Rogan defends Shane Gillis over SNL gym joke: ‘It’s just a joke’

Podcaster Joe Rogan has defended comedian Shane Gillis against accusations of misogyny, dismissing critics of Mr. Gillis’ “Saturday Night Live” monologue as the “word police.”

Speaking Thursday on “The Joe Rogan Experience” with content creator Cody Tucker, Mr. Rogan said “real misogyny actually exists” but that Mr. Gillis is not a part of it.

“There’s a lot of men that genuinely hate women. Shane Gillis is not one of them,” Rogan said. “And he’s a great guy. It’s just a joke.”

Mr. Gillis hosted “SNL” on Saturday for the third time. In his opening monologue, he joked about returning to a public gym “as a fat guy,” then said he didn’t know “women just dressed like whores now,” adding that he was in the background of “like 10 TikToks right now.”

Mr. Rogan argued the joke was aimed at mr. Gillis himself, not the women. “The joke is on Shane, ’cause the joke is that he looks like a creep in the background of all these TikToks,” he said. He also said he has no problem with how women dress at the gym: “Have fun. God bless you.”

The monologue drew sharp criticism. Actor Dan Levy, who hosted “SNL” in 2021, said in an Instagram video that “women wearing short shorts at the gym does not make them whores. It makes the men calling them whores misogynists.” “SNL” alumni Cecily Strong and Ego Nwodim and singer Maren Morris also criticized the comedian.

Not everyone at the show agreed. “Weekend Update” co-anchor Michael Che told NBC’s “Today” show Thursday, “That’s comedy. It’s like, you think it’s funny, and then some people don’t.”