A plethora of accolades were presented to a range of athletes on Wednesday night at the 2025 ESPY Awards at The Dolby Theater in Los Angeles. But there was a moment during the night when Host Shane Gillis didn’t just flirt with controversy; he charged straight into it. And guess what? New York Mets’ star Juan Soto found himself caught in the middle of it.

Gillis didn’t spare anyone during his opening monologue itself. The 37-year-old comedian’s jabs were aimed at the most celebrated athletes, and while he meant to amuse the crowd, instead of receiving laughs, he was met with boos at times.

Gillis began roasting everyone from Caitlin Clark to Aaron Rodgers and eventually took a brutal jab at Juan Soto. After calling out Rodgers for his refusal to take the COVID-19 vaccine, he somehow linked Soto and Donald Trump.

“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, before further adding, “And Donald Trump wanted me to be here to capture Juan Soto for the same reason.” 

Now, the attendees were taken aback a little. That’s certainly not what they expected, but some of them, not all, eventually burst into laughter. Was that a jab at Trump’s hardline stance on immigration? Well, leave it to people’s imagination!

Joe Rogan is widely known for his deep dive into conspiracy theories anyway. Playing on his name, Gillis first took a shot at NBA commissioner Adam Silver and then cracked that Soto joke. It was dark, deeply layered and certainly absurd, which drew scrutiny in the aftermath.

That monologue immediately went viral with over 300,000 views. And naturally, over his jab’s context and delivery, it ignited divided opinions. However, this is all background noise for Soto, given the other pressing issues that have him occupied already.

Juan Soto’s funny reaction to his absence from the All-Star game

When Juan Soto first entered Citi Field as a Met, wearing blue and orange, he was a team-first guy. And he still is. More than personal milestones, it has always been about the team’s success for the Dominican outfielder.

On June 4, the fan voting for the All-Star game officially began. Many expected that Soto’s explosive bat wouldn’t miss out on the All-Star night. That time, across 60 games, he held a slash line of .233/.361/.438 with 11 home runs, 30 RBIs and 43 strikeouts. In fact, through April, he only recorded 3 home runs and 12 RBIs.

However, coming to June, when there was still a month to go for the All-Star break, he earned the NL Player of the Month award with a 1.196 OPS, 11 home runs and 20 RBIs over 27 games. Still, his impressive set of numbers and title weren’t enough to get him an All-Star spot.

And his reaction to that was amusing. In an interview, he was asked about his thoughts on not making it to the All-Star roster. He replied, “What do you think? I think it’s a lot of money on the table if I make it.” That response earned scrutiny from Mets nation, with fans not being overly amused.

It’s been weeks ever since and Soto still finds himself in a sea of headlines. But this one at the ESPY wasn’t on him. It was all Gillis.

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