David Spade Urges Calm Amid Backlash Over Shane Gillis' SNL Joke

David Spade is urging critics to "relax" regarding the backlash faced by comedian Shane Gillis for jokes made during his "Saturday Night Live" monologue. On his podcast, "Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade," Spade defended the right of comedians to push boundaries, even when their material is met with criticism.

Gillis ignited controversy after he made remarks about women at the gym during his Oct. 10 "SNL" appearance. "I haven’t been to the gym in so long. I didn’t know women just dress like whores now?" Gillis said, continuing, "Look, I’m sorry, there’s no other way to describe… Have you seen the shorts? Those neon, they’re like, artificial bait-colored [shorts], and the wrinkles go around the cheeks and all combine at the butthole. And don’t look! You’re not allowed to look."

Co-host Dana Carvey expressed skepticism about the outrage, arguing that such remarks are fundamentally part of stand-up comedy and not meant to be taken literally. "Joke is funny – eh. Joke is not funny, joke offends me – joke should not be allowed to be said," Carvey said, distinguishing between a joke falling flat and one that should be censored.

However, Heather Santoro, Spade's assistant and executive producer of the podcast, offered a different perspective, emphasizing that offensive humor must still be genuinely funny. "The joke has to be actually funny. If you’re gonna like call a woman a whore, it’s gotta be funny. And it wasn’t," Santoro stated.

Carvey conceded that while the joke might have succeeded in a comedy club, "Saturday Night Live" might not have been the appropriate venue. "Young, very highly dressed-up young women is the majority of the audience at ‘SNL,’" Carvey noted.

Spade also addressed what he perceives as double standards in Hollywood, questioning why certain subjects or figures are deemed off-limits for jokes. He referenced the criticism directed at Sydney Sweeney while simultaneously noting calls to respect sex workers, suggesting a need for clearer boundaries on what warrants outrage. "And it’s like, ‘Which one is it?’ Like, you know what I mean? Let’s all decide what we hate and don’t and how about we just relax," Spade commented.

Spade, a former "SNL" cast member from 1990 to 1996, observed that jokes at the show face intense scrutiny. "I think at ‘SNL,’ If something kills, it gets a pass. If something totally bombs, then they get a lot of trouble," he said. He added that Gillis, like Dave Chappelle, seems to adopt a stance where he delivers the material and then lets the audience debate its reception.