Dan Levy Criticizes Gillis’s SNL Gym Clothing Joke

Shane Gillis’s Oct. 10 Saturday Night Live monologue included a joke describing women who wear short gym shorts as dressed like “whores,” drawing criticism from actor Dan Levy the following day. Levy said the remarks were misogynistic and urged men to challenge the objectification of women. In an Instagram video posted Oct. 11, Levy said that women wearing short shorts to the gym were not “whores,” and that men who used the label were misogynists. He also said he was speechless that the remarks had aired on live national television. Gillis made the joke during the opening monologue of the episode he hosted. He said he had not been to a gym in a long time, then described women’s shorts and commented that people were not supposed to look at them. The segment was part of the live broadcast. Levy framed his response as a call for men to speak up against objectification, saying that men should defend women and that the issue concerned everyone. He argued that complacency had created an environment in which women are sexually assaulted. He also said that when media objectifies women, other men may see and treat them as objects.