Comedian Shane Gillis spared no one in his ESPY Awards opening monologue on Wednesday night, roasting everyone from Caitlin Clark to Aaron Rodgers to President Donald Trump to Mets star Juan Soto \u2014 and everyone in between.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The star of the Netflix show \u201cTires\u201d drew some laughs \u2014 and boos \u2014 in his introduction that ended with an homage to the late comedian Norm Macdonald, who hosted the awards show in 1998. <\/p>\n
In the same vein as Macdonald, Gillis kicked off his own hosting duties with a biting monologue.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gillis\u2019 jokes spanned across a wide variety of topics and at times made the usually buttoned-up crowd uncomfortable \u2014 even drawing jeers from the balcony at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
Shane Gillis speaks onstage during the 2025 ESPY Awards at Dolby Theatre on July 16, 2025 in Hollywood, California. Getty Images<\/p>\n
His joke about University of North Carolina football coach Bill Belichick and girlfriend Jordon Hudson seemed to land the best with the crowd.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After making a bookie joke about Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, he pivoted to Belichick.<\/p>\n
\u201cA bookie is what Bill Belichick reads to his girlfriend before bedtime,\u201d Gillis said on stage. \u201cThey read, \u2018Very horny caterpillar.\u2019 \u2018The Little Engine That Could But Needed A Pill First\u2019 and of course, the classic, \u2018Good Night Boobs.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
However, other jokes seemed to divide the audience.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Host Shane Gillis, top right, speaks at the ESPY Awards at the Dolby Theatre. AP<\/p>\n
\u201cJoe Rogan actually wanted me to be here to host this award show so that I could capture Adam Silver because Joe thinks he\u2019s an alien,\u201d Gillis joked at one point. \u201cAnd Donald Trump wanted me to be here to capture Juan Soto for the same reason.\u201d<\/p>\n
One person from the upper level of the venue audibly booed the joke.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jokes about WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark also were met with some hesitation, saying that he and the Fever sensation are similar because they\u2019re \u201cboth whites from the Midwest who have nailed a bunch of 3s.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Caitlin Clark retires from the WNBA, she\u2019s going to work at a Waffle House so she can continue doing what she loves most, fist fighting black women,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
Host Shane Gillis speaks at the ESPY Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, Wednesday, July 16, 2025. AP<\/p>\n
And he poked fun at Aaron Rodgers\u2019 tenure with the Jets and the future Pro Football Hall of Famer\u2019s reluctance to get vaccinated during the COVID-19 pandemic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAaron Rodgers did not take the vaccine because he predicted that it would be bad for him and then he joined the New York Jets. So maybe he wasn\u2019t right about everything,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gillis ended his monologue by referencing an old Macdonald joke that he used when he hosted the ESPYs \u2014 taking aim at O.J. Simpson.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gillis reworked the joke to fit into 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shane Gillis and Grace Brassel attend the 2025 ESPY Awards at Dolby Theatre on July 16, 2025 in Hollywood, California. WireImage<\/p>\n
\u201cTravis Hunter won the Heisman Trophy this year,\u201d he started off. \u201dHe\u2019s the first defensive player since Charles Woodson to win the Heisman. Congratulations, Travis Hunter, winning the Heisman, that\u2019s something they can never take away from you. Unless you kill your wife and a waiter, in which case, they can take that away from you.\u201d<\/p>\n