"SNL" star Michael Che reacts to Shane Gillis' controversial monologue: "It's comedy"

Gillis took heat for a joke he made about women at the gym while hosting the NBC sketch comedy recently.

Michael Che is preparing for possible questions about Shane Gillies' controversial monologue on Saturday Night Live last weekend, and the moment has come.

"Got to do more press this week promoting the special," Che wrote on Instagram earlier this week about the press tour for his new Netflix stand-up special, Michael Che: Filmed in Minnesota. I don't know what every damn question is about. "Thank you so much Shane."

For context, after hosting NBC's sketch comedy show on Saturday, Gillies took heat for his joke about women who work out.

Druski became the first online creator to host "SNL."

Former 'SNL' star Ego Nwodim reacts to Shane Gillis' controversial joke about women

"I haven't been to a club in so long, I didn't know women were dressing like whores now," Gillies told the live audience. "Look, I'm sorry, there's no other way to describe [it]. Have you seen it? I've seen it. The panties? You've seen the panties? They're neon, like fake bait? And the wrinkles go around the cheeks and they all blend together in the hole. And don't look. Background 10 TikToks right now."

He was asked about the controversy on Thursday's Today show, despite his reluctance to discuss the matter firmly, or co-anchoring "Weekend Update" with Colin Jost on SNL.

"It's comedy," he said. "Like, you think it's funny and some people don't."

He was later asked if he laughed at Gillis' joke about women, to which Che replied, "I was actually on flashcards and I was thinking, 'I'm going to say that it upsets people.' I didn't even see it until the next day."

Che is no stranger to controversial jokes, especially during his biannual joke exchange with Jost on SNL, where the jokes can be pretty ridiculous.

"That's why I can't criticize anybody for swinging and missing, because I've definitely swung and missed," the comedian said on TODAY. I try to get this heat away from me."

After backlash for his remarks on the NBC morning show, Che responded to a fan on Instagram who asked why he had no problem calling Kanye West a "yeah" in the past, but not Gillies.

"That's a fair question. Especially since when I called out Kanye, I did it in private. I had no idea he was filming. The thing is, when I have a problem with someone, I call them personally. Not through the media. I don't want to kill someone on the Today show when I can just text them. That's a respect that's been extended to me in the past and I like to pay it forward."

Following Gillis' monologue, Dan Levy was among the celebrities who slammed the comedian for his joke about women in the gym. Women wearing shorts at the gym does not make them whores. This causes men to call them misogynistic whores. There is a difference," the Schitt's Creek co-creator and star wrote in part of the article.

Levy added in his Instagram post: I am not talking about the fact that such a thing can exist on live national television. "And to be completely honest, more men need to stand up to it because it's complacent that it's created an environment where women are being sexually assaulted and it's a 'conversation' as opposed to a 'crime'."

Former SNL actor Ego Nwodim also responded with a photo of himself at the gym with the caption, "Slut reporting for duty."