SNL's Inde Navarrette Makes X-Rated Joke About Her 'Little Whore Outfit' During Hosting Debut

Inde Navarrette opened her Saturday Night Live hosting debut by telling viewers she hits the gym in a 'little whore outfit' as she prepares for her new Marvel role, a pointed gag that echoed a controversial joke by comedian Shane Gillis three weeks earlier.

The Obsession star fronted the Halloween episode of the show's 52nd season, broadcast live from New York on Saturday 31 October, with Gracie Abrams as musical guest.

'So, every morning, I put on my little whore outfit and hit the gym,' Navarrette said, explaining that she was trying to get into shape to play Rogue in Marvel Studios' forthcoming X‑Men film. The line drew laughs from the studio audience.

The joke appeared to nod to Gillis, who hosted on 10 October and said in his opening monologue that women at the gym dress like 'whores'. The remark prompted criticism from public figures including the actor and writer Dan Levy.

Navarrette, a first-time host, had said before the show that she was looking back to earlier episodes, citing Taylor Swift, who wrote her own monologue for her 2009 debut.

Marvel Role and Horror Breakout

Navarrette rose to prominence this year in Curry Barker's horror film Obsession. Marvel Studios confirmed her as Rogue at Disney's D23 event on 15 August. The film is directed by Jake Schreier, who made Thunderbolts and is due in cinemas in 2028. Sadie Sink, Kit Connor, Christopher Abbott and Maya Boyd are also in the cast.

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Navarrette said she had studied the character and wanted to 'do it justice'.

In her monologue, she stressed that she is 'nothing like Nikki', the character she played in Obsession. Members of the SNL cast joined her on stage. Marcello Hernández appeared as a 'sexy TSA agent', Kam Patterson as the convicted Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and Jeremy Culhane as Wolverine, pitching himself for the X‑Men film.

The segment underlined how her horror credentials are now running in parallel with a major franchise opportunity.

Inde Navarrette's SNL Sketches Turn Dark

The episode leaned heavily into dark comedy. In 'The Inventor', Navarrette played a widow who returns from her husband's funeral to find he has built her a robot, labelled PD‑44. Six years later, the machine attacks her new boyfriend in a bloody twist. Covered in blood, she says: 'He did love me. My husband did love me after all.'

Elsewhere, she appeared alongside Hernández as the ghosts of two 1930s children haunting the Queen Mary, played a contestant on The Uninterested Woman Dating Show and starred as the investigator Ryder in PAW Patrol: Special Victims Unit, a parody she played straight.

Season 52 combines long-serving cast members such as Kenan Thompson, Michael Che and Colin Jost with newer performers including Veronika Slowikowska and Grace Reiter.

Abrams, who released her third album, Daughter from Hell, in July, was making her second appearance as musical guest. She first performed on the show in the Christmas episode of Season 50.

NBC had not published viewing figures for the episode at the time of writing.