Dan Levy has slammed comedian Shane Gillis after he joked that women dress like 'whores' at the gym during his return to Saturday Night Live. Gillis, 38, sparked outrage during his opening monologue on the US sketch show when he took aim at women's gym attire, prompting an uncomfortable reaction from the studio audience.
'I haven't been to the gym in so long, I didn't realise women just dressed like whores now,' he said. 'Look, I'm sorry, there's no other way to describe it,' he added as the audience grew uncomfortably quiet.
Levy's Instagram response
The remark didn't sit well with Schitt's Creek star Levy, who took to Instagram to deliver a furious response to the comedian's comments and the wider culture of misogyny he believes they reflect. Filming himself in a white shirt and glasses, the actor began: 'Women wearing shorts at the gym does not make them whores. It makes the men calling them whores misogynists. There's a difference there.'
He continued: 'By the way, I've seen more men's nipples at the gym than I've ever seen women showing their bodies off.'
Levy urges men to defend women
But Levy's criticism went considerably further than Gillis's choice of words, with the actor arguing that the casual objectification of women has consequences far beyond an offensive joke. 'I'm speechless that something like that can exist on live national television and, to be honest, more men need to be standing up in opposition to it,' he said. 'Because it's complacency that has created the environment with which women are sexually assaulted and it's a "conversation" opposed to a crime.'
The actor, 43, insisted that challenging misogyny should not be left to women alone, calling on men to take greater responsibility for the attitudes they help perpetuate. 'Men need to be defending women more. This is not a women's issue, this is an everybody issue, because the more men objectify women in the media, the more other men see them as objects and treat them as objects.'
'They are not objects. They are superior human beings to men, OK?' he added. Levy concluded his impassioned video with a defiant: 'And I'm sorry if this gets me in trouble with the internet, OK, but f**k!'
Support from Hollywood and fans
His comments quickly attracted support from fellow Hollywood stars, including Hacks actress Hannah Einbinder, who wrote: 'Thank you Dan ❤️' Pitch Perfect star Elizabeth Banks was similarly impressed, commenting simply: 'Nailed it.'
Fans also thanked Levy for speaking out, with one person writing: 'This is an EVERYBODY issue. Thank you for saying it louder for those in the back!' Another added: 'Love you for saying this. Thank you.' A third viewer appeared equally unimpressed by Gillis's performance, writing: 'This about the SNL I assume?? We were stunned. Even more stunned by how bad he is. I mean, amateur.'
The backlash also spilled over onto Reddit, where users expressed concern about the increasingly casual way women are discussed by men, both online and in everyday life. 'The way men casually talk about women like they're not human beings is so prevalent and concerning right now,' one person wrote. Another agreed, claiming they had noticed a similar shift in attitudes among male friends and men they had dated. 'You'd think that "women are humans" would be a mainstream opinion in our lord's year of 2026,' another user remarked.
Gillis's other SNL controversy
It wasn't the only moment from Gillis's SNL appearance to cause controversy. During a Dr Seuss-inspired sketch, the comedian accidentally dropped an F-bomb while playing a son attempting to stop Sam-I-Am, portrayed by Andrew Dismukes, from pestering his father into eating green eggs and ham. 'Bro, it's a non-starter. He said he doesn't f***ing — jeez — like 'em,' Gillis said, visibly stumbling after realising his mistake.
The expletive made it onto the live broadcast before NBC could censor it, although it was subsequently removed from clips shared online. At the end of the episode, Gillis appeared to acknowledge the slip-up while saying goodbye to viewers alongside musical guest Rosalía. 'Sorry about earlier,' he told the audience. His apology appeared to refer to the accidental swearing rather than his remarks about women, which have continued to attract criticism online.
