Must-Watch: Shane Gillis Hosted ESPN’s ESPY Awards, and Wow, Someone in Management Might Lose Their Job

I’m not exactly sure how Shane Gillis landed the hosting spot for the ESPN ESPY awards this year, but I’m thrilled he did because it was utterly hilarious. However, I suspect that some executive might face consequences for this decision since the network’s DEI department is likely frantic. 

ESPN executives watching Shane Gillis monologue knowing they are the ones who hired him. #ESPYS pic.twitter.com/O7kHHT0OtZ

— Austin (@AustinPlanet) July 17, 2025

For those familiar with Gillis, he’s known for being far from politically correct, whereas ESPN’s editorial stance leans strongly to the left. Nevertheless, he didn’t hold back, delivering jokes that aren’t exactly considered appropriate in 2025. One of the night’s funniest moments was when he introduced “4x WNBA All-Star Brittany Hicks,” prompting the audience to applaud enthusiastically. The twist? That was actually the name of his friend’s wife.

No one actually watches the WNBA. 

Shane Gillis tricked the ESPYS crowd into believing his friend’s wife was a WNBA star 😭

“4x WNBA All-Star Brittany Hicks is here. Let’s hear it for Brittany, everyone. I’m just kidding; that’s actually my friend’s wife, I know none of you knew WNBA players.” pic.twitter.com/uC5Ta7v7u1

— FearBuck (@FearedBuck) July 17, 2025

After hitting Shedeur Sanders for having his number retired at Colorado, Gillis went back to the WNBA, this time to talk about Caitlin Clark. 

The jokes Shane Gillis made about Shedeur Sanders and Caitlin Clark at the ESPYs was solid gold pic.twitter.com/iwbOeFJweI

— Garrett Savage (@GarrettWSavage) July 17, 2025

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

You can see some of the people in the largely left-wing audience not knowing whether they are allowed to laugh or not. It’s comical to watch some of them squirm. I can’t blame them. For years, ESPN and sports media in general have become so laughably woke that you never know who might be watching and taking notes. 

And just to make sure he offended everyone left in the room, Gillis made a January 6th and Epstein joke as well. 

pic.twitter.com/OtVmhdcP91

— Vid Clip Hero (@VidClipHero) July 17, 2025

Actually, there was supposed to be an Epstein joke here, but I guess it got deleted. Most of, it probably deleted itself, right? It probably never existed. Let’s move on as a country and ignore that. 

There’s a lot more over the nine-minute monologue, but I won’t spoil it all. Here’s the full thing. 

Here’s the full Shane Gillis monologue from last night’s ESPY’s. The diversity counsel emailers at ESPN this morning are PISSED. pic.twitter.com/5ZzCLOhFw3

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) July 17, 2025

The jokes didn’t stop with Gillis’ performance, though. As expected, the left-wing press got very upset that he would dare make jokes about WNBA players. In fact, the response seemed to be coordinated, with multiple outlets all parroting the idea that the monologue was “unfunny” and “awkward.” 

The famously offensive comedian took several unfunny swipes at the women of the WNBA during the annual ESPY awards ceremony. https://t.co/gwU3TsWbVN

— New York Magazine (@NYMag) July 17, 2025

On second thought, perhaps the monologue was a bit awkward, but it wasn’t because of Gillis. It was because too many people in the room had been programmed to never laugh at jokes that target anyone but white males. That’s such a silly way to look at comedy. What makes a stand-up routine funny is when no one and nothing is off-limits, and comedy in general would be a lot better if the industry got back there. 

Meanwhile, pray for the well-being of the executive who booked Gillis.