Shane Gillis BioSnap a weekly updated Biography.

Shane Gillis has been making national headlines all week, stepping squarely back into the TV spotlight as the controversial host of the 2025 ESPYs. The awards aired on July 16 from Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre, with ABC and ESPN+ broadcasting the event. Variety broke the news, highlighting Gillis’s relentless rise as a top touring comic and Netflix star, coming off the second season of Tires and a global standup run. He was chosen, according to ESPN’s Craig Lazarus, for being not just “one of the top comedians today, but also a huge sports fan.” No surprise, then, that Gillis wasted no time bringing controversy to sports’ biggest night. AOL reported that his ESPYs opener created immediate shockwaves with jokes about Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, drawing laughter, gasps, and a full spectrum of social buzz. Social media rapidly lit up, splitting between praise for his comedic boldness and the usual outrage over his forays into taboo territory, a balancing act that seems to have now become Gillis’s signature.

Days later, the aftershocks continued into Saturday Night Live news cycles, as Gillis prepares to host SNL for the first time since his 2019 firing over resurfaced offensive podcast jokes. After being dumped by SNL back then for what were deemed racist and homophobic comments, Gillis cut a modest figure on social media, saying he’d wanted a chance but understood he’d be “too much of a distraction.” Now, AOL and other outlets are calling his SNL comeback “prodiga”—and not a little hypocritical for the show—given his continued style of button-pushing humor, now in Netflix’s Beautiful Dogs and regular appearances with Joe Rogan.

Gillis’s standup juggernaut has also extended, with new tour dates added. According to WRIF and Audacy, Gillis is set for arenas like Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena on August 15 and Louisville’s KFC Yum Center August 8, following sellouts abroad including London and Dublin. With tickets in high demand and radio giveaways in multiple US markets, his arena tour is cementing Gillis as one of this era’s most bankable comics.

On the business front, his podcast, Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast, continues to top charts. Instagram mentions have been plentiful, especially among fellow comics commenting on the current white-hot controversy. At least for the moment, Shane Gillis has managed not only to survive but to make his 2019 SNL firing a career rocket, proving that in comedy, infamy and reinvention often walk hand in hand.

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