For some reason unbeknownst to even the smartest people on the planet, ESPN voluntarily chose Shane Gillis to be the host of its annual ESPYs award show on Wednesday night.
For those of you who may not know, Gillis is a comedian that frequently roasts woke ideas/people and sensitive topics in a majority of his skits. Wednesday night’s monologue was no different, as he poked fun at Megan Rapinoe, the WNBA, and the Epstein list.
Do yourself a favor and watch this monologue entirely because its genius.
Again, I can’t believe ESPN - an ardently progressive company owned by Disney - voluntarily asked Gillis to host their awards show. It would be like CNN asking Tucker Carlson to produce his own primetime segment on their network.
Of course, Gillis’ ability to actually be funny triggered some people who don’t have a sense of humor. Specifically, Sarah Spain, a former ESPN employee, tweeted out her displeasure with Gillis.
“In a year of crazy growth for women's sports choosing an ESPYs host who doesn't even try to make clever jokes about women athletes (he at least *attempted* for the men) he goes with hacky "no one knows the WNBA" bits, "Pinoe is a bad time" & repeatedly insults Black women. COOL,” Spain wrote on X.
Someone needs to lighten up a bit.
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The essence of comedy is revealed truth. Gillis’ jokes about these women revealed something that is true - no one watches the WNBA, Rapinoe is insufferable, etc. But because they are jokes, you can laugh at it.
Spain seems to think that women can’t be joked about, which goes against another fundamental tenet of comedy: everyone and anyone can be made fun of. The women Gillis talked can be made fun of, and it doesn’t imply anything malicious about Gillis or his jokes.
ESPN has a long way to go before it could be considered not woke and fully back to sports. But choosing Gillis for this role is a good start, and it should continue to do more.
If they do, Spain’s brain might break.
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