ESPN is getting a tremendous online response after announcing comedian and Notre Dame football fan Shane Gillis will be hosting this year’s ESPY Awards on July 16 in Los Angeles.
The annual ESPN production is traditionally headlined by as comedian or athlete, but this is the first time the 37-year-old Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania native will be hosting the show, which some liken to the ‘Sports Oscars.’
‘I’m excited to be at The ESPYS this year,’ Gillis said in a statement. ‘I like sports so this should be a good time.’
‘Shane is not only one of the top comedians today, but also a huge sports fan, which made him an easy choice to host The ESPYS,’ said Craig Lazarus, ESPN Vice President and The ESPYS Executive Producer, said in the statement.
Fans of both Gillis and the ‘Worldwide Leader’ rushed to congratulate ESPN on a good move.
‘Best decision they could’ve ever made,’ one fan wrote.
Notre Dame fan Shane Gillis is slated to host the annual ESPY Awards in Los Angeles on July 16
‘This is going to be a good one!’ another added. ‘Nice!’
Confusingly, one person responded by implying the network opposed the very decision it just made: ‘Uh oh woke ESPN won’t like this one.’
Although Gillis is championed by conservatives as an ‘anti-woke’ comedian, he has been critical of Donald Trump’s perceived eagerness to get involved in Middle Eastern wars.
‘He was talking about sending our boys over there,’ Gillis told ‘Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast’ after Trump threatened to take over war-torn Gaza. ‘The whole point of electing him was to not send our guys overseas… Day (expletive) 20.
‘I was watching [the press conference], and I was like, “No, don’t say that you (expletive) idiot.”‘
These days, Gillis is one of the stars of Netflix’s ‘Tires,’ which was recently renewed for a second season.
Host Serena Williams speaks on stage during the 2024 ESPY Awards at Dolby Theatre
This is not Gillis’ first collaboration with ESPN. He previously appeared on College Football GameDay from South Bend, where he appeared to mock former Alabama coach Nick Saban.
Speaking to co-host Pat McAfee about his hopes for Notre Dame, Gillis said the late-December Notre Dame-Indiana showdown ‘felt different’ because of new rules allowing student athletes to be paid.
‘Now that everybody can pay their players Notre Dame has a shot – not just the SEC and Coach Saban,’ Gillis said, ostensibly suggesting Alabama skirted old rules forbidding payment to players.
‘I don’t think the SEC paid players ever,’ the laughing Gillis continued. ‘I’m joking – is this not a fun show? Is this a serious show?
‘Alabama Jones is very serious,’ Gillis added, likening Saban’s Fedora to the famed hat worn by the iconic Harrison Ford character. ‘Get the whip, Indy.’
Saban wasn’t amused.
‘I do believe in integrity,’ he said before aiming a thinly-veiled dig back at Gillis. ‘I always tried to run the program that way, so that players had a chance to be more successful in life.
‘That was how we cheated. We developed players.’
Gillis called the 72-year-old Saban ‘Alabama Jones’ for wearing a Fedora to South Bend
Last year’s ESPY Awards made news for the show’s omission of Buffalo Bills legend OJ Simpson, who was noticeably absent from the ‘in memoriam’ portion of the program after passing away in 2024.
Simpson was famously acquitted of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown and a her friend Ronald Goldman during the 1994 ‘trial of the century’ in Los Angeles, but was later found responsible for their deaths in a civil trial.
However, ‘The Juice’ was mentioned at the 1998 ESPYs, where host Norm Macdonald landed an infamous joke about the Heisman Trophy that Simpson was forced to auction off to pay damages to victims’ families.
Addressing 1997 Heisman winner Charles Woodson during the show, Macdonald was sure to reference the fate of Simpson’s trophy.
‘And there’s Charles Woodson!’ Macdonald said during his monologue. ‘How about that? What a season he had. He became the first defensive player to win the Heisman Trophy. Congratulations, Charles, that is something that no one can ever take away from you.’
Macdonald then paused for effect before adding: ‘Unless you kill your wife and a waiter, in which case, all bets are off.’
The Canadian comic passed away in 2021 at age 61, but his controversial 1998 ESPY performance resurfaces on social media with each iteration of the network’s awards show.
