Bobby Bones Faces Backlash After Defending Shane Gillis’ Controversial ‘SNL’ Joke

Alyssa Norwin October 13, 2026, 10:48 am

What To Know

Bobby Bones defended Shane Gillis’ controversial Saturday Night Live monologue in a now-deleted TikTok.
He insisted the quip Gillis made about women dressing like “whores” at the gym was a “funny joke” and is now facing major backlash.

Bobby Bones is under fire for comments he made about Shane Gillis‘ controversial Saturday Night Live monologue. In a now-deleted TikTok, he defended Gillis, who said during his October 10 monologue that “women just dress like whores” at the gym.

“I think the people that are saying that Shane Gillis’ monologue bombed, or those that don’t get the joke about artificial bait, they must not be from the south,” Bones said. “That’s a funny joke.”

The radio host’s response sparked major backlash, as fans flooded social media with frustrated reactions. “if Miami/Tampa is considered the south, no, we don’t. Misogyny isn’t funny except to [trash] like him,” one person commented. Someone else said, “Southerner here, I have zero idea what being from the South has to do with that joke being ‘funny.'”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sam Rosenholtz (@goodtrouble.tt)

Another commenter wrote, “Born and raised in the south. Have no idea what this guy is talking about being from the south.That was not a joke and it was not funny,” and another commented, “Jokes are supposed to be funny. Saying nasty s**t and hoping people laugh is a choice.”

Gillis was cast on SNL in 2019, but fired just four days later after old clips of him making racist and homophobic comments on his podcast surfaced. Still, he was invited to host the show in 2024, 2025, and now again in 2026, much to many fans’ disappointment.

Bobby Bones Has Theory About Who Dances When on 'DWTS'

In his October monologue, he said, “I haven’t been to the gym in so long, I didn’t know that women just dress like whores now. I’m sorry, there’s no other way to describe it. Have you seen it? I’ve seen it. The shorts? Have you seen the shorts? Those neon … they’re like artificial bait colors. The wrinkles go around the cheeks and all combine at the butthole. And don’t look. You’re not allowed to look. For real, don’t look, because they are filming. I’m in the background of, like, 10 TiKToks right now.”

Gillis has yet to address the backlash, although he did apologize for blurting out the f-bomb during one of his skits.