Comedian Shane Gillis shocks ESPN crowd with Epstein and illegal alien jokes: 'This is Disney'

Comedian Shane Gillis has been synonymous with the downfall of cancel culture ever since his firing from "Saturday Night Live" skyrocketed his career.

Gillis was fired from the sketch-comedy show in 2019 for doing impressions of Chinese people on his podcast, and since then, he has filled arenas, starred in his own Netflix series, and become a podcasting juggernaut.

The comedian's love of sports, especially football, has kept him connected to that world, and surprisingly, he was tapped by Disney's ESPN to host its annual award show last night, the ESPYs.

Gillis was as offensive as always, leaving mouths agape in shock more than once.

'Actually, there was supposed to be an Epstein joke here, guess it got deleted.'

Gillis wasted no time bringing up deportations of illegal immigrants and President Trump, saying that Trump was hoping Gillis would capture New York Mets' Dominican baseball star Juan Soto at the award show.

"Joe Rogan wanted me to be here to host this award show so that I could capture [NBA Commissioner] Adam Silver, because Joe thinks he's an alien. And Donald Trump wanted me to be here to capture Juan Soto for the same reason."

As audience members buried their heads in their hands, Gillis added, "It's an alien joke. Who booed? Shut up!"

The Philadelphia comedian then poked fun at the president for wanting to host a UFC event on the White House lawn.

"The last time he staged a fight in D.C., Mike Pence almost died," Gillis joked about January 6, 2021.

The crowd was more receptive to that joke, with Gillis telling the audience they did not have to keep quiet. "You don't have to do that, it was fine, I didn't write it," he laughed.

Then, Gillis hammered the president with a Jeffrey Epstein joke.

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"Actually, there was supposed to be an Epstein joke here, guess it got deleted," Gillis immediately continued. "Probably deleted itself, right? Probably never existed, actually. Let's move on as a country and ignore that."

While jokes at the president's expense got cheers from the crowd, Gillis took huge shots at athletes and even the WNBA that quieted the room for a brief period.

As is typical of award show hosts, Gillis calmly pointed to an apparent female basketball player in the crowd and thanked her for being there.

"Four-time WNBA All-Star Brittany Hicks is here, give it up for Brittany," he said. The crowd responded to the prompt with loud applause. But Gillis had set a trap for the audience.

"I'm joking around, that's my friend's wife. I knew none of you knew WNBA players. That's crazy you clapped for that," he revealed.

The comic was not done with the WNBA, shocking the crowd with a joke about how when star player Caitlin Clark retires, she will work at a Waffle House so she can "continue doing what she loves most: fist-fighting black women."

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Shane Gillis and Grace Brassel at the 2025 ESPY Awards. Photo by Maya Dehlin Spach/WireImage

The monologue was another monumental win for free speech, with Gillis bemused that his own content was allowed on a Disney network, no matter how offensive it was.

Gillis expressed his awe when joking about North Carolina coach Bill Belichick's personal relationship. The coach, who is 73 years old, is dating a 24-year-old. Gillis joked that Belichick would read his girlfriend bedtime stories but asked the audience why they would not support such a relationship.

"What happened to this country?" the comedian asked, before telling the crowd that if they had won as many Super Bowls as Belichick, maybe they would not be sitting next to a "fat, ugly dog-wife."

Just as shocked as the attending athletes, Gillis said, "This is Disney. They allowed that."

Like an after-action report by a sergeant, Gillis admitted he still delivered jokes that he should have taken out. This shows just how far American culture has gone in recent years, from woke to Waffle House brawl jokes, with Gillis topping mainstream platforms no matter what he decides to say.

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