Ex-ESPN host blasts Shane Gillis for jokes about female athletes in ESPYs monologue

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

Shane Gillis 'didn't even try to make clever jokes about women athletes' during his viral ESPYs monologue, former ESPN personality Sarah Spain has fumed.
Gillis, 37, was tasked with hosting ESPN's annual sports awards ceremony on Wednesday night, giving him the opportunity to mock a number of sports stars, some of whom were in attendance at Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
Among the comedian's victims were Shedeur Sanders, Aaron Rodgers, Bill Belichick, Jake Paul and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, while he also ventured outside of sports by making jokes about Donald Trump and disgraced late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
He also trolled a number of women on the night; taking aim at the likes of Megan Rapinoe, Simone Biles, Caitlin Clark and the WNBA as a whole.
'Megan Rapinoe could not make it tonight... nice,' Gillis said about the former USWNT soccer captain before adding . 'No? We're gonna pretend she's a good time? Alright.'
The actor and comic also mocked 4ft 8in Olympic gymnast Biles over her height and the WNBA over its lesser-known players while saying about Clark: 'When Caitlin Clark retires from the WNBA, she's going to work at a Waffle House so she can continue doing what she loves most: fist fighting Black women.'
In a year of crazy growth for women's sports choosing an ESPYs host who doesn't even try to make clever jokes about women athletes (he at least *attempted* for the men) he goes with hacky "no one knows the WNBA" bits, "Pinoe is a bad time" & repeatedly insults Black women. COOL.
— Sarah Spain (@SarahSpain) July 17, 2025
Yet those gags did not go down well with Spain, who has ripped into Gillis for his 'hacky' punchlines about female sports stars.
The sports reported wrote on X: 'In a year of crazy growth for women's sports choosing an ESPYs host who doesn't even try to make clever jokes about women athletes (he at least *attempted* for the men) he goes with hacky "no one knows the WNBA" bits, "Pinoe is a bad time" & repeatedly insults Black women. COOL.'
Gillis had mixed success with his jokes on the night after some drew huge laughter from the crowd and others failed to land.
His brutal dig at legendary NFL coach Belichick, 73, and his 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson sparked one of the loudest reactions from the audience after he first began a joke about MLB superstar Shohei Ohtani.
'Shohei is a once in a generation talent. No one's been able to do what he's done at so many positions - pitcher, hitter, and bookie,' Gillis said, referring to Ohtani's former interpreter's $17million betting scandal.
He then set his sights firmly on Belichick and Hudson. '"Bookie" is what Bill Belichick reads to his girlfriend before bedtime,' he continued, to rapturous laughter.
'They do the "Very horny caterpillar," "The little engine that could but needed a pill first," and of course, "Good night boobs." That's my favorite one.'
'Not trashing Bill Belichick,' Gillis went on. 'He is 73 years old and dating a hot 24-year-old. People are criticizing him. What happened to this country? We used to be a great country.
'He won six Super Bowls. He is dating a hot 24-year-old. Maybe if you guys won six Super Bowls you wouldn't be sitting next to a fat ugly dog wife.'
He then slightly backtracked as that harsh quip drew a stunned reaction from the crowd.
'They let me do it. This is Disney. They allowed that... Yeah, we should've taken that out,' Gillis said. 'I had doubts going into that. That didn't work all week.'