Comedian Shane Gillis took center stage as host of the 2025 ESPY Awards on Wednesday night at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre, but instead of laughter, he was met with awkward silence and scattered boos.
Gillis, 37, opened the evening with a set full of jabs at some of the biggest names in sports—including Caitlin Clark, Shohei Ohtani, Simone Biles, and Megan Rapinoe. However, his humor didn’t quite connect with the star-studded audience.
He did manage to draw a few laughs with a quip about Patriots legend Bill Belichick and his girlfriend Jordon Hudson:
“A bookie is what Bill Belichick reads to his girlfriend before bedtime,”
he said, referencing a fictional title, “The Little Engine Who Could But Needed a Pill First.”
But much of his material fell flat. As Gillis stumbled through missed punchlines, some in the mezzanine level booed, prompting him to respond:
“Lighten up.”
After another gag landed poorly, he added, “I didn’t write it.”
Controversial Moments
Gillis impersonated Donald Trump and referenced the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, joking:
“Actually, there was supposed to be an Epstein joke here, but it must’ve been deleted. Actually, it probably deleted itself.”
His most inflammatory line came when he turned his attention to WNBA star Caitlin Clark, saying:
“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.”
The audience’s discomfort grew more obvious with each punchline. Near the end of his monologue, Gillis acknowledged the cold reception:
“Well, I see a lot of you don’t like me and that’s okay,”
he said.
“That went about as exactly how we all thought it was gonna go. I don’t know why this happened.”
Pre-Show Expectations vs Reality
When ESPN announced Gillis as the 33rd ESPY Awards host back in June, he had expressed enthusiasm:
“I’m excited to be at The ESPYS this year, I like sports, so this should be a good time,”
he told The Hollywood Reporter.
But on the night, the combination of controversial jokes, tense energy, and a visibly unimpressed audience made for one of the most uncomfortable openings in recent ESPY history.
The backlash has already begun online, with social media reacting strongly to his jokes, especially the one targeting Caitlin Clark.