Kathy Griffin tears into Shane Gillis after SNL monologue: "Looks like he can't get laid"

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Kathy Griffin has piled on after Shane Gillis's recent "Saturday Night Live" appearance — taking aim at an entire generation of podcasters along the way. The 65-year-old US comedian called Gillis a "hack" in an exclusive Page Six interview on Tuesday and said about him and other male comedians: "They all look like they can't get laid."

Griffin's double strategy: defending free speech, attacking the comedian

In the interview, Griffin kills two birds with one stone: she defends Gillis's right to tell the joke — while sharply criticizing him at the same time. "I think as a comic I'm always going to fight for the First Amendment and his right to say it and yet I don't have to like it," she told Page Six. She added: "So, I defend his right to say it, and I also defend everyone else's right to think less of him." For Griffin, the appearance is not a case for censorship, but very much one for plain words.

The Emmy and Grammy winner broadened her criticism to an entire phenomenon. "There are a lot of hacks who are doing very well, and they come from TikTok or the podcast world," she said, citing Joe Rogan as an example. "He's not the only guy to break out from Joe Rogan's influence. There are so many; they all look alike to me. They all look like they can't get laid; they all sound alike to me; they all tell the same jokes … and they tell these jokes about women that are from like 100 years ago, like women should be in the kitchen and shut up and all this other stuff."

What Gillis said in the monologue

The trigger was Gillis's opening monologue on Saturday, October 10, in which he took aim at female gym-goers. He said women dressed at the gym "like whores," and described special neon-colored shorts as "artificial-bait color." He vividly described how the wrinkles of those pants would behave:

"those neon … artificial-bait color" shorts with "wrinkles [that] go around the cheeks and all combine at the butthole"

As if that weren't enough: Later in the show, the comedian dropped an uncensored F-bomb. About the women at the gym, he quipped: "You're not allowed to look. For real, don't look, because they are filming. I'm in the background of about 10 TikToks right now." A rep for Gillis initially did not respond to Page Six's request for comment.

Not an isolated case: Dan Levy and Ego Nwodim also criticize

Griffin is not alone in her displeasure. Former "Schitt's Creek" star Dan Levy also weighed in via Instagram: "Women wearing short shorts to the gym does not make them whores. It makes the men calling them whores misogynists. There's a difference there." Former "SNL" cast member Ego Nwodim joined the criticism. The appearance has thus triggered a wave that goes beyond the usual Twitter echo.

Griffin's own admission: "I'm still learning"

Griffin does not see herself as "woke" — "which is probably what those guys are saying to anyone that objects to that joke," as she concedes. At the same time, the comedian, who became known through her reality series "My Life on the D-List," admits that she herself used words in the past that she now dislikes. "I used many words that horrify me (now), but I don't use them now. I want to think that I'm still learning." Her demand of comedians: "comedians evolve and change with the times" — and, if necessary, simply leave out certain words.

Gillis's second chance at "SNL" — six years after being fired

The fact that Gillis was back on the "SNL" stage at all is a story in itself. In 2019, he had been cast for the show — and fired again within a week because old podcast clips containing racist and homophobic remarks had surfaced. His appearance on October 10 was thus something of a late rehabilitation, which has now promptly triggered fresh debate. Griffin, for her part, is currently on tour and will perform at New York's Town Hall on Friday.