Shane Gillis Jokes About Bill Cosby, Compares Liberals to ‘Star Wars’ Villains in ‘SNL’ Monologue

Shane Gillis returned to “Saturday Night Live” as a host for a second time on March 1. This time, the show did not open with him playing President Trump; James Austin Johnson, per usual, took over that role in a cold open recreating Trump vs. Zelenskyy.

After the opening, Gillis took the stage for a bit of his own stand-up routine. After poking fun of both Trump and former President Biden, he then compared liberals to the famous villains in the “Star Wars” universe.

“You guys are pretty liberal here. Look, I understand being liberal, dude, it feels good. It’s powerful. It’s too powerful, dude. It’s like the Sith. You, like, lose yourself,” he said, laughing.

Gillis then joked he was about to “lose” the audience a bit more with a joke about white men asking their girlfriends about their past partners. “You don’t want to be on Tinder, [writing,] ‘Have you ever had sex with a Black guy before?'” he asked. “It’s a shameful thing to ask. It’s weird. I’ve done it. I’m not proud.”

Toward the end of his monologue, the comedian began talking about his love for historical documentaries, specifically Ken Burns’ Civil War special.

“It’s 900 hours long. No one on Earth has ever finished it. Also, it’s kryptonite to women. If you put that on, they will fall asleep immediately,” he said. “That’s a little Cosby tip for you, actually. Who needs roofies when we have ‘Ken Burns Presents: The History of the Buffalo’ on PBS.”

Gillis first hosted “SNL” just over a year ago in February 2024, making his “SNL” debut five years after getting fired for past racist, homophobic and misogynistic remarks.