Jenna Bush Hager and Sheinelle Jones are speaking out about the controversy that followed after Shane Gillis called women “whores” in his monologue while hosting “Saturday Night Live” on Oct. 10.
“I haven’t been to the gym in so long. I didn’t know women just dressed like whores now,” he said. “Look, I’m sorry. There’s no other way to describe — have you seen it? I’ve seen it. The shorts. Have you seen the shorts?”
Jenna and Sheinelle discussed how people were infuriated, noting that a lot of men chastised Gillis for his choice of words. Sheinelle then said she tends to give more rope when comedy is involved, but he may have pushed the envelope too much with his language.
“With comedy, I am a bit more, I guess, lenient because I do believe there is room for comedians to be able to push the button, and not have to feel like, ‘Oh, am I going to get canceled or this or that?’” she said.
“My challenge is the word ‘whore.’ Look, I have girlfriends who I know exactly what shorts he’s talking about, and they’re like, ‘Sheinelle, you need to wear these,’ and it’s exactly what he’s saying. It’s like ruching. Your butt looks bigger. You know, all the things. And I know why they’re wearing them. So, whatever. If that’s what they want to wear, Godspeed. But I think when you say the word whore, I think it feels almost derogatory.”
“Not almost,” Jenna said.
“It just feels condescending,” Sheinelle continued.
“I wouldn’t want my kids to listen to that,” Jenna said.
“It feels mean,” Sheinelle said. “And that is the energy that I think made people upset.”
Sheinelle also felt there was a sense of hypocrisy in what Gillis said when she pointed out that men go shirtless at the gym and “are proud of their bodies.”
“So if the guy can be proud of his body, let the girl be proud of her body,” she said.
Jenna also took issue with Gillis amplifying his thoughts, which speaks to a larger problem.
“Who is he to comment on women’s bodies?” she said. “And I think we’ve become this culture, Shane Gillis among many, where online creators — I mean, he’s obviously on ‘Saturday Night Live,’ but this perpetuates what is happening in our culture where people are commenting on women’s looks.”
Sheinelle said that has almost made it acceptable to do so, prompting Jenna to say it’s not OK.
“If we want to be good role models for our children, stop talking about the way women look. Period,” Jenna said.
“And I think you know, there’s many of women have said, ‘This is enough.’ And, so, I think, honestly, and especially in the time we’re living in, I wouldn’t want my son to hear that. If my husband talked like that about somebody — he would never. But if he did, I would be disgusted by it.”
Jenna also said it’s important for her to remember her children are watching, especially when trying to navigate difficult subjects.
“I think when we’re having conversations in here around horrible things that are happening in the world and how to talk to our kids about it, maybe the first place to start is for some of these people to start acting like role models,” she said.
“So for me, I’m like, ‘OK,’ if I’m trying to be open with comedy, then it’s ‘OK.’ You know, you’re going to poke fun at the girl. You can poke fun at the guy without a shirt on. You didn’t go to him, but you could have,” Sheinelle said. “But just the energy of the word ‘whore.’ I mean, that’s what gets me.”
Jenna also pointed out that there’s a larger problem in the world revolving around mocking how women look.
“We have a culture where there’s casual cruelty about the way people look, constantly. And imagine if you heard your daughter talking about the way that some of these people online talk about women. It’s not OK.”