ABC’s The View purportedly had two comedians on its cast but they increasingly act as the joke police, condemning the ones that were not woke enough. On Tuesday’s episode, the bitter old crones took aim at comedian Shane Gillis’s set from Saturday Night Live when he mocked modern gym attire for woman as making them look like whores. Of course, co-host Sara Haines took it to the most ridiculous extreme and suggested jokes like his cause rapes.
“I typically defend comedy at all costs because I believe there has to be an area where comedians are able walk right up to that line, because some of the best stuff is when people are being super risky and risqué,” Haines began her comments before pulling a 180.
In the same way someone says “with no disrespect” before they say something insulting, Haines then accused Gillis’s type of humor of causing rapes like the alleged Cornell situation:
[W]hen the language like ‘whore’ is passed along, I might have not noticed it before in the past, because it was under the guise of a joke. And as we talk about this Cornell 7, I'm not saying a joke makes an assault, but it makes it much easier to look at it as another human as an object.
Of course, no evidence was provided to back up the assertion that Gillis’s jokes caused rapes. It’s possible that Gillis could file a defamation suit against Haines, The View, and/or ABC.
It’s worth noting that this is the first time the Cornell 7 had been brought up on The View since TMZ released the text messages where the alleged victim called it a consensual “gang bang,” and said “our bodies our choice.”
Sara Haines claims Shane Gillis's jokes lead to rape like the Cornell incident:
"As we talk about this Cornell 7, I'm not saying a joke makes an assault, but it makes it much easier to look at another human as an object. And so, I think it kind of just made me realize that I… pic.twitter.com/hf6RcyktAX— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) October 13, 2026
Ironically, Haines admitted her thoughts on this were not her own. Instead, they came from a man, a gay man, Canadian actor Dan Levy:
But Dan Levy brought up such a good point. First of all, he is a god. I love him so much. But he’s bringing up a great point of when the language like ‘whore’ is passed along, I might have not noticed it before in the past, because it was under the guise of a joke.
The View shared parts of Levy’s performative white knighting outrage on behave of the gym whores, the ones not trying to get his attention:
Women wearing short shorts to the gym does not make them whores. It makes the men calling them whores misogynists. [Transition] Men need to be defending women more. This is not a women's issue. This is an everybody issue. Because the more that men objectify women in the media, the more that other men see them as objects and treat them as objects.
Faux conservative co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin followed up by claiming she was a fan of Gillis, but the set wasn’t that funny:
My thing is. I'm actually a Shane Gillis fan. I’ve watched a lot of his standup and find him genuinely to be. My issue was that was just not a funny opening monologue. Like, I was watching and I was waiting. I was like, when is this going to land? And he’s done most of those jokes before. I think it like it kind of bombed for me. But I do think he’s someone who is genuinely quite funny, usually.
Following her comments, moderator Whoopi Goldberg abruptly took them to a commercial break, saying, “we’ll talk more about this when we come back.” They never did.
Maybe claiming Gillis’s jokes cause rape made ABC’s legal team put the kibosh on the rest of the conversation.
The transcripts are below. Click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
October 13, 2026
11:17:26 a.m. Eastern(…)
DAN LEVY: Women wearing short shorts to the gym does not make them whores. It makes the men calling them whores misogynists. [Transition] Men need to be defending women more. This is not a women's issue. This is an everybody issue. Because the more that men objectify women in the media, the more that other men see them as objects and treat them as objects.
[Cuts back to live]
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: What did you think of the monologue?
SARA HAINES: Okay. I typically defend comedy at all costs because I believe there has to be an area where comedians are able walk right up to that line, because some of the best stuff is when people are being super risky and risqué.
But Dan Levy brought up such a good point. First of all, he is a god. I love him so much. But he’s bringing up a great point of when the language like ‘whore’ is passed along, I might have not noticed it before in the past, because it was under the guise of a joke. And as we talk about this Cornell 7, I'm not saying a joke makes an assault, but it makes it much easier to look at it as another human as an object.
And so, I think that it kind of just made me realize that I need to be more mindful, even in comedy. Because - By the way, what we wear to the gym, like, the idea of the term ‘whore’ is the part that’s the most offensive part because it’s almost inviting in that the ‘whore’ wants that attention. So, it's uncomfortable.
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: My thing is. I'm actually a Shane Gillis fan. I’ve watched a lot of his standup and find him genuinely to be. My issue was that was just not a funny opening monologue. Like, I was watching and I was waiting. I was like, when is this going to land? And he’s done most of those jokes before. I think it like it kind of bombed for me. But I do think he’s someone who is genuinely quite funny, usually.
GOLDBERG: Well, we’ll talk more about this when we come back, apparently.
[They don’t]
