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Shane Gillis had at least one celebrity in stitches last week during his ESPYs monologue, which was delivered to a mixed reception from audience members.
Addressing his experience as host of the ESPYs, Gillis revealed that Busta Rhymes laughed during the nearly 10-minute opening monologue that included jokes touching on everything from Caitlin Clark to Aaron Rodgers to President Donald Trump.
“The one person laughing my entire monologue was Busta Rhymes,” Gillis said on his “Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast,” which released on Monday. “And while I was up there, I kept, like, looking over to be like, ‘Yes. Yes. Yes.’ I don’t care how badly this is going, just seeing Busta Rhymes like…Yes. Yes. Yes.”
Host Shane Gillis speaks at the ESPY Awards at the Dolby Theatre. AP
The comedian had also addressed the joke in which he duped the audience into clapping for “four-time WNBA All-Star Brittany Hicks,” who was really just his friend Matt McCusker’s wife when the camera panned to her.
The joke was among several of the more controversial bits during Gillis’ act.
Gillis had said during the podcast that there were several other sports that a joke like that would have worked with as well.
“You could’ve been like, ’10-time All-Star, NHL legend Matt McCusker,’ and they would’ve been like, ‘For sure,’” Gillis said.
Busta Rhymes performs onstage during the 2025 ESPY Awards at Dolby Theatre. Getty ImagesHe later added, “I knew they would clap. I would have clapped. Anybody on earth would clap.”
Gillis’ monologue drew plenty of reaction with several ex-ESPNers hitting out at the comic’s jokes, including Sarah Spain and Dan Le Batard.
However, ESPN appeared to stand behind Gillis following the show, knowing that his comedic stylings weren’t going to be for everyone.
While ESPN was likely hoping that Gillis’ presence would draw a new audience, the ESPYs saw a dip in viewership from the previous year by 22 percent, according to Sports Media Watch.
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