'Must have deleted itself...': Shane Gillis jokes about 'moving on' with Epstein row in his ESPYs speech

Updated on: Jul 17, 2025 07:07 AM IST

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Shane Gillis' ESPYs 2025 monologue hit hard, joking on Caitlin Clark-Angel Reese and Epstein files: “The Epstein joke deleted itself—never existed.”

Comedian Shane Gillis' opening monologue at the ESPYs 2025 in Los Angeles on Tuesday left no one unscathed. Starting with the Caitlin Clark-Angel Reese controversy, the comedian even had a joke about the recent row over the Jeffrey Epstein files, as a star-studded Dolby Theatre struggled to contain their awkward laughter.

Host Shane Gillis speaks at the ESPY Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, Wednesday, July 16, 2025.(AP)

“There was supposed to be an Epstein joke here, but it got deleted, must have probably deleted itself, right?” Gillis joked. “Probably never existed. Actually. Let's move on as a country and ignore that.”

Here's the video of the moment:

The Epstein files returned to national headlines on July 6, Sunday, after the release of a memo by the US Department of Justice saying that no further disclosures into the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) probe into Jeffrey Epstein's case will be disclosed. The memo also denied the existence of the alleged Epstein's 'Black Book,' calling it a 'hoax'

Moving on from Epstein, Gillis also cracked a joke on President Donald Trump and Joe Rogan.

“Joe Rogan actually wanted me to be here to host this award show so that I could capture Adam Silver because Joe thinks he’s an alien,” Gillis said. “And Donald Trump wanted me to be here to capture Juan Soto for the same reason.”

Also read: When Caitlin Clark retires…: Watch Shane Gillis' ESPYS joke on Indiana Fever basketballer

Next on his comedy hitlist was Aaron Rodgers, and Gillis did not miss the opportunity to crack a joke on Rodgers' refusal to take COVID-19 vaccine. “Aaron Rodgers did not take the vaccine because he predicted that it would be bad for him and then he joined the New York Jets,” he said, adding, "So maybe he wasn’t right about everything.”

Gillis jokes was not widely appreciated, and he could feel the awkwardness in the crowd as he ended his speech.

“I see a lot of you don’t like me and that’s okay," a smiling Gillis said as he concluded. "That’s it for me. That went about exactly how we all thought it was going to go. I don’t know why this happened.”