Martha Plimpton criticized “Saturday Night Live” creator Lorne Michaels over Shane Gillis’ “really f–king stupid” monologue delivered over the weekend.
The “Goonies” star told her Instagram followers Tuesday that Michaels, 81, needs more women around him “making decisions.”
The 55-year-old actress said she watched a documentary about the NBC sketch series Monday and took particular notice of a scene showing people gathered “in Lorne’s office in between the rehearsal taping and the live show.”
“A bunch of people gather [there] to decide what’s gonna get cut and what’s gonna make it to air,” she explained.
Plimpton noted that the documentary was not filmed “recently,” but perhaps “three years ago.” Still, she said the room featured “all white men” making the decisions — “maybe even all straight white men.”
The Tony Award nominee clarified that she did not know “the proclivities of everyone in that room,” adding that “maybe one or two of them are gay.” Her larger point, she said, was that there were “no women, no people of color” involved in the discussion. “They make this decision, and it’s all white guys,” she said.
The “East of Eden” star, who plays brothel madam Faye on the hit series, also took aim at Gillis, 38, over a joke about women “dress[ing] like whores” at the gym.
Plimpton said she had “never heard of” the comedian before his hosting appearance. Still, she argued that he “deserve[d] a spanking from his mama” for comparing women’s gym shorts to “artificial bait.”
Representatives for Gillis and Michaels did not immediately respond to Page Six’s requests for comment.
Michaels created “SNL” in 1975 and has addressed criticism surrounding the show’s cast diversity on several occasions.
In 2013, he told the Associated Press, “It’s not like it’s not a priority for us [to cast a Black, female comedian]. It will happen. I’m sure it will happen.”
Two years later, Michaels told NPR that “SNL” had been “breaking those barriers from the very beginning,” while acknowledging that building a diverse cast is “more complicated than putting together a rainbow coalition.”
Gillis’ controversial monologue has drawn criticism from several celebrities, including former “SNL” cast member Ego Nwodim, who mocked the comedian on social media Monday.
Nwodim shared an Instagram Story selfie from the gym with the caption, “Whore reporting for duty.”
She later posted a photo of her breakfast while saying she was eating “30 grams of protein after heauxing.”
Country singer Maren Morris also took aim at Gillis in an Instagram Reel, giving him the middle finger while asking him to “leave [her] gym short wedgie out of it.”
“Schitt’s Creek” alum Dan Levy, meanwhile, shared a lengthy video in which he called Gillis a “misogynist.”
The 43-year-old “speechless” actor said, “The more that men objectify women in the media, the more that other men see them as objects and treat them as objects. They are not objects.”
Bobby Bones, however, defended the joke during Sunday’s episode of his “25 Whistles” podcast.
“He said [the shorts] looks like the color of an artificial bait, artificial lure. And I thought that was so funny,” the radio personality told listeners. “If you guys don’t get that joke … you’re probably not from the South or you’ve probably never been fishing.”