Grace Brassel joins Dan Levy and Ego Nwodim in calling out comedian Shane Gillis for his controversial Saturday Night Live monologue.
The 38-year-old comic drew widespread public condemnation for an opening monologue that many viewers, celebrities, and social media commentators have branded as overtly misogynistic.
The intense backlash took an deeply personal turn when his ex-girlfriend, social media personality Grace Brassel, publicly joined the chorus of critics, mercilessly mocking the comedian’s performance across her digital platforms.
During his opening set on the legendary NBC late-night sketch show, Gillis performed a highly polarized routine targeting women’s activewear and female gymgoers.
In the bit, he remarked that women exercising at the gym “just dress like w****s now.”
He went on to describe contemporary women’s athletic clothing as “neon” and “artificial bait-colored,” specifically critiquing tight garments by joking that the fabric wrinkles “go around the cheeks and all combine at the butthole.”
He concluded the joke by referencing the modern phenomenon of gym-creeper videos, quipping: “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.”
Grace Brassel Strikes Back on Instagram
The monologue quickly caught the attention of Grace Brassel, who began dating Gillis in July 2024 before the former couple parted ways in 2025.
Seizing on the viral moment, Brassel took to her Instagram account to deliver a sharp, satirical response to her ex-boyfriend’s comedic commentary.
On Wednesday, she uploaded a video of her own fitness routine with a bold text overlay reading: “Full Body Workout for H*es.”
In the video’s voiceover, Brassel directly subverted Gillis’s derogatory punchline, joking, “Here’s my super quick full body workout as a big old he at the gym.”
Maintaining a sarcastic and lighthearted delivery, she told her followers, “Alright, come on guys, we can have fun here,” before breaking down her actual exercises.
At the conclusion of the clip, she added a final parting shot: “Be a young he and run free.
Have fun at the gym.” She later followed up the video by posting a gym selfie captioned with a simple, “Fitcheck!”
This public mockery arrives just a week after Brassel opened up about the emotional toll of her high-profile relationship with the famous comedian.
In an emotional Instagram video montage set to Ashe’s 2026 hit song Stop The Wedding!, Brassel revealed clips of herself crying during the romance, stating that the relationship “fully stripped me of who I am.”
In her caption, Brassel detailed the difficulties she faced from the comic’s loyal following, writing: “I’ve been so terrified to even talk about what I went through, especially after relentless bullying from his fanbase (for no reason).
I want to share this to let women know IT GETS BETTER!! And you can do it! I had it on level hard mode and I survived!”
Anticipating further internet blowback, she noted that she used the crying clips as a personal video diary, adding that her main objective was to show other women hope, regardless of whether their ex-partner is a famous entertainer.
Hollywood Figures and SNL Alumna Demand Accountability
Brassel was far from alone in her condemnation of the broadcast. A wave of prominent Hollywood figures quickly used their platforms to vocalize their disgust with the material.
Schitt’s Creek star Dan Levy posted an impassioned video on Instagram directly dismantling the logic of Gillis’s routine.
“Women wearing short shorts at the gym does not make them ws. It makes the men calling them ws misogynists,” Levy observed, pointing out the hypocrisy of gym culture by adding, “By the way, I’ve seen more men’s nipples at the gym than I’ve ever seen women showing their bodies off.”
Levy expressed shock that such commentary was permitted on live national television, calling for men to actively stand up against casual misogyny.
He warned that complacency in language creates a dangerous social environment where women face harassment.
Brassel later amplified Levy’s critique by sharing his video to her own Instagram Stories with the dismissive caption, “ANYWAYS… y’all need anything from the store?”
Acclaimed stage and screen actress Martha Plimpton, 55, also targeted the SNL creator and executive producer, Lorne Michaels, 81.
In a video posted on Tuesday, the East of Eden star labeled Gillis’s set as “really fing stupid s,” adding that the comedian “deserves a spanking from his mama.”
Plimpton then explicitly criticized Michaels for continuing to insulate himself and the show’s leadership with “all white men,” implying a systemic lack of editorial oversight regarding offensive content.
Even former SNL cast members joined the pushback. Ego Nwodim, who completed a celebrated seven-season tenure on the late-night show from 2018 to 2025, used humor to mock her former colleague’s monologue.
Nwodim posted a mirror selfie from her gym on her Instagram Stories, defiantly raising an arm with the text: “w** reporting for duty.”**
Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift Swept Into the Online Fury
The controversy quickly spilled over into the sports and mainstream pop-culture spheres, inadvertently ensnaring NFL superstar Travis Kelce.
The 37-year-old Kansas City Chiefs tight end—who famously married pop icon Taylor Swift this past summer in a high-profile wedding ceremony officiated by movie star Adam Sandler—faced swift internet scrutiny from fans.
Eagle-eyed social media users noticed that Kelce had clicked the “like” button on a video clip of Gillis’s monologue posted to Saturday Night Live’s official Instagram page.
Given Swift’s massive, protective fanbase and her public alignment with feminist causes, Kelce’s digital endorsement of the joke sparked immediate outrage across platforms like X (formerly Twitter).
Fans vociferously debated whether the football star’s social media interaction signaled an endorsement of the monologue’s underlying message, showcasing how quickly the fallout from the episode expanded beyond the comedy community.
A Familiar Cycle of Controversy for Shane Gillis
For industry insiders, the intense public backlash surrounding Shane Gillis feels like history repeating itself.
The comedian famously made national headlines back in 2019 when he was officially announced as a new cast member for Saturday Night Live’s 45th season.
Within days of the announcement, the show was forced to fire him after internet users unearthed old podcast episodes in which Gillis routinely used racial slurs, including anti-Asian slurs like “ch**k.”
The proximity of his hiring to Bowen Yang, the show’s very first cast member of Asian descent, magnified the public outrage at the time.
Following his historic firing, Gillis issued a formal statement characterizing himself as a “comedian who pushes boundaries” while offering to apologize to anyone genuinely offended by his past work.
In the years that followed his termination, Gillis successfully rebuilt his career through independent channels, culminating in a highly successful 2023 Netflix stand-up special that reached the Top 10 streaming charts in five countries.
While Lorne Michaels eventually invited Gillis back to host the program, this weekend’s broadcast demonstrates that the comedian’s boundary-pushing style continues to test the limits of mainstream network television.
As representatives for Gillis remain silent following requests for comment, the digital discourse surrounding gym culture, performance boundaries, and media accountability shows no signs of slowing down.