Shane Gillis BioSnap a weekly updated Biography.

The past week has been one of the most high-profile moments in Shane Gillis’s career. On July 16, Gillis hosted the 2025 ESPY Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, instantly making national headlines for an opening monologue that took boundary-pushing to new heights. According to Sports Illustrated, Gillis delivered a performance filled with biting jokes targeting everyone from former President Donald Trump to sports icons like Caitlin Clark and Bill Belichick. His jibe about Trump and the Epstein case—saying there was an Epstein joke that must have “deleted itself” and maybe “never existed”—sparked an immediate social media firestorm, with some viewers calling it “brutal” and suggesting he implied Trump was covering something up. The National Desk reports that the punchline resonated particularly sharply in the context of the Department of Justice’s recent decision not to release more Epstein files, which Trump himself labeled as a “hoax” in a Truth Social post the same night, swearing off former supporters who bought into the latest conspiracy chatter.

Fan reaction online was intensely divided, with Bleacher Report and Tribune News recording fierce debates. Some people across X and Instagram praised Gillis for roasting Trump and praised the “comedy gold,” while others accused him of insensitivity, especially around jokes involving Caitlin Clark and a mispronounced Diana Taurasi reference. Athletes at the ESPYs were shown alternately laughing or visibly uncomfortable, a dynamic widely shared in memes and reaction videos over the following days. ESPN and Awful Announcing clips of the monologue have each racked up millions of views on YouTube, only amplifying the controversy and fueling the ongoing debate about the line between comedy and insensitivity at major televised events.

While the ESPYs have offered Gillis his widest television platform yet, the fallout has certainly not affected his box-office power as a comic. T-Mobile Center and Shazam both confirm that his arena tour, Shane Gillis Live, continues to break records for comedy ticket sales, with a major show selling out in Kansas City on July 19. The demand across U.S., Canadian, and European dates remains “staggering,” with Gillis setting all-time ticket sales records at multiple arenas, surpassing even acts like Kevin Hart and U2, according to T-Mobile Center. Socially, his edgy ESPYs humor has become the week’s watercooler talk, constantly referenced in Twitter trends and sports debates. There have been no reports of any new business ventures or brand partnerships breaking this week, but with the attention he’s received, the focus is squarely on how his signature style continues to shake up mainstream comedy—and, at least for now, keeps everyone talking.

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