Shane Gillis Shocks ESPY Crowd With Unfiltered Jokes About Epstein, WNBA, And Caitlin Clark

Comedian Shane Gillis hosted ESPN’s “ESPY Awards” on Wednesday night and shocked the crowd with a number of jokes about Jeffrey Epstein, the WNBA, its top star Caitlin Clark, and January 6th.

Gillis, who was warmly received by the online crowd, joked about the theories surrounding the death of Epstein, a convicted sex offender.

“Actually there was supposed to be an Epstein joke here, but I guess it got deleted,” he said. “Probably deleted itself, right? Probably never existed, actually. Let’s move on as a country and ignore that.”

Shane Gillis ripped the Epstein handling during his monologue for the Espy awards on ESPN tonight:

“Actually there was supposed to be an Epstein joke here, but I guess it got deleted. Probably deleted itself, right? Probably never existed, actually. Let’s move on as a country… pic.twitter.com/ym3Brte8fZ

— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) July 17, 2025

During the monologue, Gillis also made a crack about how unpopular the WNBA is by getting the audience to applaud for his podcast co-host’s wife, introducing her as a WNBA all-star.

“Four-time WNBA all-star Brittany Hicks is here — give it up for Brittany everybody,” Gillis said to big cheers from 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.”

This might have been Shane Gillis’ best joke of the night.

Introducing his friend’s wife as a 4x WNBA All Star and the crowd totally bought it ???? pic.twitter.com/qofeQGJ75X

— OutKick (@Outkick) July 17, 2025

Addressing Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark, Gillis joked, “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.”

Clark has routinely been the target of cheap shots from other players in the WNBA.

“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”

— Shane Gillis ???????????? pic.twitter.com/X45GWByr6o

— BricksCenter (@BricksCenter) July 17, 2025

Gillis also took on former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, 73, who’s now dating a 24-year-old woman.

“A bookie is what Bill Belichick reads to his girlfriend before bedtime,” the comedian joked. “They read, ‘Very horny caterpillar,’ ‘The Little Engine That Could But Needed A Pill First,’ and of course, the classic, ‘Good Night Boobs.'”

Shane Gillis: “They let me do it. This is Disney. They allowed that… Yeah, we should’ve taken that out. I had doubts going into that. That didn’t work all week.” #ESPYs pic.twitter.com/Hjttc3J1B4

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 17, 2025

President Donald Trump and the January 6 Capitol breach were also referenced in the Gillis monologue. “Donald Trump wants to stage a UFC fight on the White House lawn,” he said. “The last time he staged a fight in D.C., Mike Pence almost died.”

Shane Gillis: “Donald Trump wants to stage a UFC fight on the White House lawn. The last time he staged a fight in D.C., Mike Pence almost died… Actually, there was supposed to be an Epstein joke here, but I guess it got deleted…” #ESPYspic.twitter.com/lneVij5IDY

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 17, 2025

Gillis was widely praised online for the daring jokes, while X users highlighted some of the shocked reactions from the ESPY crowd:

everyone in the audience while shane gillis delivers the funniest ESPYs opening of all time pic.twitter.com/dJFJrEGbOq

— greg (@gandalf_thegreg) July 17, 2025

Shane Gillis was hilarious but you can see how soft society has become that he’s gotta awkwardly feel like the devil for making funny jokes

— NBA Slime (@TerryFranconia) July 17, 2025

Related: Even SNL Can’t Deny That Shane Gillis Is Funny