Content note: this article contains mentions of assault and rape

Earlier this month, comedian Shane Gillis used some of his precious time on millions-of-viewers-strong Saturday Night Live to blurt out a controversial line. In the (coveted) opening monologue, he said that “women just dress like whores [in the gym] now”.

Locating the punchline here proved challenging. Maybe it was just the toddler thrill of saying a naughty word? Though it’s hard to believe that a man with Shane’s history has such a low shock threshold.

More likely, the alleged “joke” was supposed to lie in the controversy of the comment itself. He is a man saying something dismissive and sexist about women, but, like, he probably knows that’s wrong, and that, uhh, says something, right? And isn’t it so… edgy?

Vittorio Angelone also made a reference to Rebecca Goodwin and rape in a 2025 Have A Word podcast episode, which has since resurfaced on social media. In the “roast”, which did not involve Goodwin, he said of comedian Freddy Quinne: “If you’re here, who’s raping Rebecca Goodwin?

“That’s a joke. Of course it’s her dad”.

Goodwin has responded to the comment on social media, creating both TikToks and Instagram Stories about the issue. “As most of you know, I am currently going through a rape trial at the minute. It is active; it is in court,” she said in an emotional video.

“It’s not even funny, and he’s not funny. I wasn’t asked; people sat there laughing at this joke were people I saw as genuine friends, and none of them have reached out to ask if I’m okay.”

Vittorio has since apologised on social media and claims he has spoken to Rebecca directly. “At the very least I should have run the joke past the person mentioned and then still not told it because it isn’t funny”, his Instagram post reads.

Vittorio, who is from Belfast – one of the most dangerous places in Europe for women – has previously described himself as “pretty left-leaning”. But according to his social media apology, his need for “validation” overrode his “own standards and morals”.

Among female fans, “disappointed but not shocked” seems a not-uncommon response. And while it might feel different in kind to Gillis’ offensive-as-standard fare, it is not in cause.

That’s because Vittorio, however briefly, trod a path so well-worn that its sole-shined surface has eroded into a slippery slide. Its decline often sends ever-accelerating male comics hurtling towards success.

Writing for The Independent, Oliva Petter said that for young, male comedians, especially those with strong internet presences, ’70s-style misogyny is the norm. Matt Rife reportedly made $50 million (£37,370,450) from Netflix specials and other projects in 2025, two years after his special included the line: “if she could cook, she wouldn’t have that black eye”.

Louis CK, who admitted sexual misconduct claims made about him were true in 2017, returned to Netflix with the special Ridiculous in 2026.

Anyone who’s hung around a comedy club for long enough knows this is a natural extension of stand-up culture. Comedian Stevie Martin has claimed that a club promoter “paid” male comics with the phone numbers of female stand-ups, for instance.

The jokes themselves do not transgress but reaffirm and strengthen sexism, which is a mainstream societal norm in every country across the world. Studies have shown that “men’s enjoyment of sexist jokes is positively correlated to their self-reported rape proclivity”, that these “jokes” give already-prejudiced men a “cloak” in which to cover their uncorrected biases, and that they make us less likely to give women resources.

In other words, these are mainstream jokes about mainstream biases that have all-too-common harms on a globally subjugated group. It is an established and frankly hack-y way to make money, and being misogynistic rarely seems to place male comics in any long-standing personal or financial risk.

I don’t think these jokes are, or could ever be, transgressive for the same reason I don’t think a landlord evicting their tenant to sell an overpriced flat is a quirky prank. Such is the cruel banality of greed.

Vittorio does seem to acknowledge this somewhat in his apology, in which he openly admitted he made his “pathetic joke” to appease and impress. Gillis seems less troubled by his choices.

But in some ways, it doesn’t matter. We will see more of these – lots more. We’ll get cruel, sexist “jokes” from outright shock jockeys. We’ll see “clever social commentary!” gags from “woke”-identifying men who think their assault jokes are transgressive.

And we’ll see men who probably know better succumb to the sexism pervasive at every level of comedy, causing an outsize amount of harm from what they may see as a blip in judgment, but what is ultimately a tempting and correct assessment of “what sells”.

Until something huge shifts in either comedy or society more broadly, jokes like these will continue to be the most depressingly standard material around.