Earlier this month, Dan Le Batard questioned whether Shane Gillis would be willing to criticize the athletes in attendance when he hosted the 2025 ESPYS.
But while the Tires star decidedly didn’t respect the sanctity of sports as Le Batard feared he might, that doesn’t mean that the Meadowlark Media co-founder was necessarily a fan of his performance.
During Thursday’s episode of The Dan Le Batard with Stugotz, the show’s host discussed Gillis’ polarizing monologue, which included one joke in which he flamboyantly shouted “hey girl!” at New York Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns. And while Le Batard conceded that ESPN knew exactly what it was in for when it hired the Pennsylvania native for the gig, he also questioned the appeal of his brand of humor.
“The part we can agree on, I hope — well maybe we can’t agree on it — ‘Karl-Anthony Towns, hey girl.’ What’s clever about that?” Le Batard said, shrugging his arms. “How does that make gay people feel? How does that make Karl-Anthony Towns feel? What’s clever about that?”
“The point is the audacity,” co-host/producer Mike Ryan Ruiz responded.
“No, the point is just to stand on the edge,” Le Batard rebutted. “Be provocative just to provoke.”
Ruiz continued to push back, pointing out that’s largely the point of standup comedy. He also noted the plenty of people accuse podcast hosts — including their own show — of doing the exact same thing in an effort to attract attention and generate publicity.
“I am talking about the thing that was in sports last night at an awards show dressed up as art on the slowest day of the year presented to us by Disney as a celebration in the middle of summer through comedy, arts and entertainment and celebration,” Le Batard said.
“I don’t think anyone thinks of the ESPYS that way,” Ruiz replied, adding that the awards show — like most awards shows — is merely a revenue generator for the company.
While Dan Le Batard does seem to be holding the ESPYS in a higher regard than most, he’s not wrong that Shane Gillis’ presence made for an uneven experience. After his off-color monologue kicked off the show, it was then followed by a a plethora of awards and tributes such as the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage and the Jimmy V Perseverance Award, which obviously took on a much different tenor than the host’s trademark humor.
As for his criticism of Shane Gillis and his comedy and whether or not it’s clever, he’s far from the only one to take issue with some of his comedic stylings. The reality, however, is that his status as one of the world’s most popular comedians means that companies like Disney are willing to overlook such concerns, a point that Dan Le Batard had already conceded earlier in the segment.