Michael Che Fires Back at Fury Over His Shane Gillis Defense

Netflix Saturday Night Live ’s Michael Che has harsh words for those who think he should have said more about Shane Gillis’ joke about women’s gym clothes.

Gillis, 38, has been receiving major blowback after hosting SNL for the third time on Saturday and saying in his opening monologue , “I haven’t been to the gym in so long I didn’t know women just dress like wh---s now?” Che, 43, was asked point blank whether he found it funny during an appearance on Today .

“That’s comedy.

It’s like, you think it’s funny, and then some people don’t,” he said, prompting outcry from fans.

The “Weekend Update” host posted a screengrab of an exchange with one fan who wrote, “Such a p---y for staying ‘neutral.’ Stand up for women, you piece of s--t.” Che flipped the script in his response, writing, “I think your use of the word p---y as a derogatory word is disrespectful and problematic, and I’m not going to stand for it, you sexist f---ing pig! How’s that?” The angry comments for Che came after celebrities, including Schitt’s Creek star Dan Levy and Grammy winner Maren Morris , as well as SNL alums Ego Nwodim and Cecily Strong , criticized Gillis’ remarks about how women dress at the gym.

After saying “women dress like w--res,” Gillis added, “Have you seen it? I’ve seen it.

The shorts.

Have you seen the shorts? Those neon, they’re like artificial bait-colored.

And the wrinkles go around the cheeks, and all combine at the butthole.

And don’t look; you’re not allowed to look.

For real, don’t look because they are filming.

I’m in the background of like 10 TikToks right now.” As the blowback threatened to eclipse publicity for Che’s new Netflix special, Michael Che: Shot in Minnesota , Che joked on Instagram on Tuesday, “Gotta do more press this week to promote the special...wonder what every f---ing questions gonna be about 🙄.. thanks a lot shane.” He then sidestepped a question about whether he laughed when he heard MAGA-friendly host Shane Gillis’ controversial monologue during his Today appearance.

“I was at cue cards, actually, thinking about what I was going to say that was going to make people upset,” Che joked to Laura Jarrett.

“So I didn’t even see it until, like, the next day.” He later joked in a series of slides posted on Instagram, “Folks, I just want to make one thing abundantly clear.