Michael Che declines to get into the Shane Gillis of it all on The Today Show

Jarrett then tried another tactic, asking what Che would’ve thought if he’d seen the opening monologue in advance, as the other writers sometimes do. But Che quickly explained that only happens if a writer isn’t busy working on something else. “There’s so much going on,” he said. “It’s really hard to see what everyone is doing, especially for me. I’m not what they call ‘good at my job,’ so I don’t pay attention to that.” Che added that he focuses on his Weekend Update co-hosting duties because “it’s not something that I’m natural at.” 

While Che seemed reluctant to voice his real opinion, others haven’t been silent about their distaste for Gillis’ monologue, in which he said that women dress like “whores” at the gym. Dan Levy called the comedian’s monologue misogynistic, while SNL alum Ego Nwodim posted a gym selfie on her Instagram story with the caption, “whore reporting for duty.” Cecily Strong also piled on to the mockery, posting a photo on her Instagram story of her “slutty ass orange shoes and rainbow socks” for a Pilates class.