Comedian Shane Gillis made his hosting debut at the 2025 ESPY Awards on Wednesday night, delivering a monologue that included jabs at Donald Trump and a controversial joke about Jeffrey Epstein. The 37-year-old comedian, who was fired from Saturday Night Live in 2019 before his first episode, targeted the former president over his immigration policy and the January 6 Capitol attack.
Gillis quipped: 'Donald Trump wants to stage a UFC fight on the White House lawn. The last time he staged a fight in D.C., Mike Pence almost died.' The audience reacted with laughter and applause, with Gillis claiming he had not written the gag. He then pivoted to an Epstein joke, saying: 'Actually, there was supposed to be an Epstein joke here, but I guess it got deleted.'
The comedian continued: 'Probably deleted itself, right? Probably never existed, actually. Let's move on as a country and ignore that.' The remarks referenced ongoing controversy over Trump's claims that no major list of Epstein's clients exists, despite earlier indications of such files.
Gillis has experienced a career resurgence after being dropped from SNL in 2019 following the resurfacing of homophobic and racist podcast clips. He has since hosted SNL twice, in February 2024 and March 2025. ESPN vice president Craig Lazarus praised Gillis as 'one of the top comedians today' and 'a huge sports fan,' expressing excitement for his hosting role.
The ESPYs, which raise funds for the V Foundation for Cancer Research, honoured top athletes including Simone Biles (Best Athlete in Women's Sports), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Best Athlete in Men's Sports), Caitlin Clark (Best WNBA Player), and the Philadelphia Eagles (Best Team).
