SNL's Marcello Hernández has made a name for himself by creating hilarious characters and bits that often incorporate his Hispanic roots.
And during his recent stint hosting the ESPY Awards, Hernández used this to roast the host of last year's awards, controversial conservative comedian Shane Gillis.
Gillis was pretty infamously fired from SNL hours after being cast when a video of him using racial slurs resurfaced.
In this era, of course, that's precisely the kind of scandal one can parlay into an incredibly lucrative career pandering to conservatives' made-up sense of grievance, and Gillis has ridden that wave all the way to the bank.
In his monologue, Hernández slyly referenced Gillis' persona with a perfect joke that poked fun at his colleague.
Addressing the audience at the awards, which honor the year's best athletes and drew a crowd that included Simone Biles, Steph Curry and Chloe Kim this year, Hernández joked:
“I personally think it’s crazy that I get to host the ESPYS. This is an American dream."
"I also want to shout out last year’s host, Shane Gillis."
"He’s watching from home like a true American: On his couch, drinking a beer while a Hispanic guy does his job."
The camera quickly cut to Kevin Hart, at whose recent Netflix roast Gillis performed, giving a politely tepid reception to Hernández's joke.
As you might guess, conservatives online had a meltdown about Hernández's joke.
Many called it "unfunny" because Hispanics stealing jobs is a real issue—which it isn't, of course, not that they care.
Others called it unkind and rushed to angrily defend Gillis and insult Hernández.
Conservatives getting offended by a joke is of course pretty ironic, since complaining about how "you can't joke about anything anymore" is half their personality—and that grievance is why Gillis has the career he has in the first place.
Even many fans of Gillis thought the uproar was silly, pointing out that Gillis himself probably found the joke funny.
And the uproar is even funnier given that Gillis' hosting gig in 2025 didn't go well at all. It went so poorly, in fact, that he remarked on it onstage during his monologue.
After a less than enthusiastic response to his set, he joked:
“Well, I see a lot of you don’t like me and that’s okay. That went about as exactly how we all thought it was gonna go, I don’t know why this happened.”
As for Hernández, Gillis was not the only big name he skewered. He also made fun of the age difference between NFL coach Bill Belichick, 74, and his 25-year-old girlfriend Jordan Hudson.
“In 1973, hockey players didn’t wear helmets, basketball had no three-point line, and in 1973, Bill Belichick was the age his girlfriend is now."
He also quipped that the ESPYs are "the only award show where none of the nominees were bullied in high school."
As for Gillis, he may not be well liked by the ESPYs audience, but he certainly has his fans, having just broken the Guinness World Record for the most tickets ever sold for a solo comedy performance, selling 77,047 tickets to his recent show at Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field.
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