Regrets, “Saturday Night Live” has a few.
For starters, the aging sketch show hired Shane Gillis to join its “Not Ready for Prime-Time Players” in 2019.
When Gillis’ old material “resurfaced,” far-Left show creator Lorne Michaels fired Gillis before he could star in a single sketch. Gillis rebounded by becoming one of the most successful stand-up comedians in America.
He just set a record for the largest audience for a stand-up performance.
Shane Gillis has made comedy history and broken the Guinness World Record for the most tickets sold for a comedy show by a solo comedian, with 76,212 tickets sold for his July 17 show in Philadelphia.
https://t.co/nxrNCnbjPU https://t.co/hyOpxLLcJK
— Variety (@Variety) July 17, 2026
The once-subversive “SNL” bowed to the woke mob, plain and simple. Cancel Culture was all the rage at the time, and Michaels refused to defend Gillis or free speech.
The woke fever broke enough to let Michaels unofficially admit his mistake. NBC invited Gillis to host the show in 2024, and he proved successful enough that “SNL” brought him back not once but twice.
His latest hosting gig happened over the weekend. Now, Dan Levy wants to cancel Gillis again.
Levy, the co-creator and star of “Schitt’s Creek,” blasted Gillis’ recent monologue on social media. Gillis cracked that some women dress like “whores” at public gyms, wearing very revealing clothing and acting shocked when it draws men’s attention.
It’s pretty tame fare for Gillis, but Levy objected all the same.
“Women wearing short shorts at the gym does not make them whores. It makes the men calling them whores misogynists … There’s a difference there. By the way, I’ve seen more men’s nipples at the gym than I’ve ever seen women showing their bodies off … But I’m speechless that something like that can exist on live national television. And to be perfectly honest, more men need to be standing up in opposition to it because it’s complacency that has created the environment [emphasis added] in which women are sexually assaulted and it’s a ‘conversation’ as opposed to a ‘crime.’”
It’s worth noting that Levy said nothing publicly when Hamas ghouls raped, tortured and killed women during the Oct. 7 attacks. They filmed some of it, too.
Nor did he defend Gina Carano when she was unfairly fired for flexing her free speech rights. Now, he’s found his voice.
Over the “wrong” comedy.
“This is not a women’s issue, this is an everybody issue. Because the more that men objectify women in the media, the more that other men see them as objects and treat them as objects.”
Levy then went the Full Woke:
“[Women] are not objects. They are superior human beings to men, OK? And I’m sorry if this gets me in trouble with the internet, but f***.”
It should get him in trouble with his fellow comedians. We already went through this shame cycle, and it had a devastating impact on humor.
Comedians ratted out other comedians. Comedy clubs decided which mean jokes are allowed (targeting conservatives) and which ones aren’t (targeting liberal politicians, trans people).
R-rated comedies went the way of the 8-track tape. Artists self-censored for fear of professional retribution.
Levy wants us to return to that era. No thanks.
Sadly, Levy isn’t the only comedian against comedy. Other scolds include Marc Maron, Whoopi Goldberg and former talk show host Stephen Colbert.
Woke 1 may have been crazy, but the sequel is something no one wants to see.
Except Levy.
Some notables react to the nontroversy:
For the record women dress like whores everywhere now, not just the gym.
— Bridget Phetasy (@BridgetPhetasy) October 12, 2026
Thank you Dan Levy
— Ellen Barkin (@EllenBarkin) October 12, 2026
It’s noteworthy that Barkin has wished rape and death on public figures – no joke!
UPDATE: Comedian Sam Tripoli weighs in on the attacks on Gillis.
I truly believe this astroturfed attack on Shane Gillis is just another chapter in the ongoing war against provocative comedy. Every other form of art is as edgy and extreme as it’s ever been, yet comedy is drowning in safe, watered-down, “children’s entertainment for adults” pop comedy. People losing their minds over Shane Gillis, SiriusXM getting rid of Raw Dog Radio, the outrage over comedy roasts, the attacks from Elephant Graveyard, and the list goes on and on.
Stand-up comedy is one of the last art forms you don’t need banker money to produce. And who are the most censored people on the internet? Comedians and conspiracy theorists! The two groups that have led the charge in challenging Hollywood and the mainstream media.
The energy inside a comedy club and the outrage on the internet couldn’t be more different. People are laughing their asses off in the clubs while the dead internet attacks anyone who refuses to play ball.
This isn’t just about comedy. It’s about controlling the narrative, policing free expression, and dictating what we’re allowed to think, say, and laugh at in today’s chaotic world.
There is a war on your soul, and comedy is one of the last weapons we have to fight back!