Shane Gillis sparks controversy on SNL with Star Wars liberal joke and Bill Cosby remark

Comedian Shane Gillis returned to host Saturday Night Live (SNL) on March 1, marking his second time leading the show. The episode opened with James Austin Johnson portraying former U.S. President Donald Trump in a cold open depicting a fictional meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

At one point, he joked about white men awkwardly questioning their girlfriends about past partners, referencing a scenario involving Tinder. Later, he spoke about his love for historical documentaries, mentioning Ken Burns’ Civil War and its notoriously long runtime. “It’s 900 hours long. No one on Earth has ever finished it,” he said, before adding, “It’s kryptonite to women. If you put that on, they will fall asleep immediately. That’s a little Cosby tip for you, actually.” The remark, an apparent reference to Bill Cosby—whose 2018 conviction for sexual assault was overturned in 2021—drew mixed reactions.

Gillis’ return to SNL comes five years after he was hired and quickly fired in 2019 due to resurfaced racist, homophobic, and misogynistic remarks. His latest monologue has reignited debates over the boundaries of comedy, with some defending his style while others criticized the jokes as tone-deaf and inappropriate.