{"id":883494,"date":"2026-10-15T19:14:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T19:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/883494\/"},"modified":"2026-10-15T19:14:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T19:14:10","slug":"michael-che-reacts-to-shane-gillis-snl-monologue-talks-netflix-special","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/883494\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Che Reacts to Shane Gillis\u2019 \u2018SNL\u2019 Monologue, Talks Netflix Special"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d star Michael Che shared his reaction after the show\u2019s host last weekend, Shane Gillis, generated backlash<\/a> with a joke about women\u2019s clothing in his opening monologue.<\/p>\n

Gillis was criticized when he joked that women dress like \u201cwhores\u201d at the gym.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t been to the gym in so long,\u201d Gillis said during the Oct. 10 episode of \u201cSNL.\u201d \u201cI didn\u2019t know women just dressed like whores now. Look, I\u2019m sorry. There\u2019s no other way to describe \u2014 have you seen it? I\u2019ve seen it. The shorts. Have you seen the shorts?\u201d<\/p>\n

Che appeared on TODAY Oct. 15 to promote his new comedy special on Netflix, \u201cMichael Che: Shot in Minnesota,\u201d out now.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a morning time special but it is really fun,\u201d he told TODAY\u2019s Laura Jarrett.<\/p>\n

In the interview, Che was also asked by Laura about his Instagram post<\/a> from earlier in the week that referenced Gillis. He wrote, \u201cgotta do more press this week to promote the special. wonder what every f—— questions gonna be about. thanks a lot shane.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cHow are you thinking about what happened this week with Shane\u2019s opening monologue?\u201d Laura asked. \u201cYou\u2019ve seen the pushback.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s comedy. It\u2019s like, you think it\u2019s funny and then some people don\u2019t,\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cDid you laugh at what he said?\u201d Laura asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was at cue cards, actually, thinking about what I was going to say that was going to make people upset, so I didn\u2019t even see it until, like, the next day,\u201d he responded.<\/p>\n

Asked for what he thought of the joke when he did see the monologue, Che said, \u201cI didn\u2019t think about it honestly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Backlash to Gillis\u2019 monologue was swift, receiving criticism across social media and from some celebrities, including comedians Ego Nwodim<\/a> and Dan Levy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

TODAY.com has reached out to Gillis and \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d for comment about the monologue but has not heard back.<\/p>\n

Che said on TODAY that some writers see the opening monologue in advance of the show \u201cif you\u2019re not working.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so much going on. It\u2019s really hard to see what everyone is doing, especially for me. I\u2019m not what they call \u2018good at my job,\u2019 so I don\u2019t pay attention to that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why I focus on \u2018Update,\u2019 because it\u2019s not something that I\u2019m natural at, so I got to really, really work at it,\u201d he added. \u201cI got to study it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Che was also asked about \u201cSNL\u2019s\u201d joke swap tradition<\/a>, in which he and his fellow \u201cWeekend Update\u201d co-host Colin Jost write lines for each other to read aloud for the first time live on air. Laura pointed out that the jokes can be intense. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why I can\u2019t criticize anybody for swinging and missing because I\u2019ve definitely swung and missed, too,\u201d Che said. \u201cI try to keep that heat off of me.\u201d<\/p>\n