SNL hires, then fires, comedian Shane Gillis over racist remarks

Comedian Shane Gillis was slated to appear as a featured player in the 45th season of “Saturday Night Live” (“SNL”). After a video surfaced of Gillis using racial slurs and attacking marginalized groups on an episode of his podcast, he was cut from “SNL” less than a week after being hired.

Key Players

Shane Gillis is a stand-up comedian and co-host of “Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast” with fellow comedian Matt McCusker.

“Saturday Night Live” is a late-night sketch and variety show, created by Lorne Michaels, that premiered on NBC in 1975. It is one of the longest-running television programs in the United States and has received 252 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, the most of any television program in history.

Andrew Yang is a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate. He is a lawyer, entrepreneur, and founder of the nonprofit Venture for America. Yang is Taiwanese American and one of three Asian American/Pacific Islander candidates seeking the presidency.

Further Details

On Sept. 12, 2019, “SNL” announced its cast for its upcoming season, including Gillis, Chloe Fineman, and Bowen Yang, the first cast member on “SNL” of East Asian descent. Gillis was cast as an effort to “appeal to more conservative viewers” and to dissipate the “appearance of a liberal bias on the show,” according to Variety.

Soon after his hiring, a video circulated on the internet showing Gillis using a racial slur, mocking Chinese accents, and denigrating Asian culture on a 2018 episode of his podcast. According to Time, the video features Gillis describing his frustrations with New York’s Chinatown, mocking a Chinese accent by referring to noodles as “nooders,” and airing his grievances with the language barrier between Mandarin and English: “the translation between you and the waiter is such a f–king hassle.” Gillis adds, “Let the f–king c—ks live there.”

Several other clips of his podcast also surfaced in which Gillis makes derogatory comments regarding the LGBTQ community and women. In one of the clips, he uses a gay slur.

Gillis responded to the videos in a tweet, writing, “I’m a comedian who pushes boundaries. I sometimes miss. If you go through my 10 years of comedy, most of it bad, you are going to find a lot of bad misses. I’m happy to apologize to anyone who’s actually been offended by anything I’ve said. My intention is never to hurt anyone but I am trying to be the best comedian I can be and sometimes that requires risks.”

His tweet received a range of replies from prominent names across entertainment and politics.  Daniel Chun, a writer for hit shows such as “The Office” and “The Simpsons,” and actress Sandra Oh, a former “SNL” host, demanded that Gillis’s hiring be reconsidered. “SNL” veteran Rob Schneider weighed in, saying, “There is a difference between exposing truths through Free Speech and just being ugly. It’s not okay to say racist things under the guise of comedy.”

Presidential candidate Yang, however, did not feel Gillis should lose his job. In an interview with CNN, Yang stated, “I believe that our country has become excessively punitive and vindictive about remarks that people find offensive or racist and that we need to try and move beyond that, if we can, particularly in a case where the person is, in this case, to me, like a comedian whose words should be taken in a slightly different light.”

The video resulted in Gillis losing his job as a cast member on “SNL” on Sept. 23, four days after he was hired. A spokesperson for “SNL” creator Michaels told CNN, “We want ‘SNL’ to have a variety of voices and points of view within the show, and we hired Shane on the strength of his talent as a comedian and his impressive audition for ‘SNL.’ We were not aware of his prior remarks that have surfaced over the past few days. The language he used is offensive, hurtful and unacceptable.”

Outcome 

Gillis responds to the decision in a tweet

Gillis wrote, “I’m a comedian who was funny enough to get ‘SNL.’ That can’t be taken away. Of course I wanted an opportunity to prove myself at ‘SNL’ but I understand it would be too much of a distraction. I respect the decision they made. I’m honestly grateful for the opportunity. I was always a Mad TV guy anyway.”

Yang and Gillis plan to meet

Shortly after Gillis was fired, Yang tweeted, “Shane Gillis reached out. Looks like we will be sitting down together soon.” As of Oct. 1, 2019, that meeting had not yet occurred.