PHOTOSShane Gillis Fired From ‘SNL’ After Backlash From Racist & Homophobic Remarks
Sep. 17 2019, Updated 12:02 a.m. ET
Shane Gillis will not be part of the upcoming season of Saturday Night Live after all. On September 16, a statement was released regarding the controversial videos in which he made racist and homophobic remarks.
A spokesperson for the sketch comedy series said that the comedian won’t be part of the cast this fall. “After talking with Shane Gillis, we have decided that he will not be joining SNL,” a statement read. “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.”
It continued, “ 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. We are sorry they we did not see these clips earlier, and that out vetting process was not up to our standard.”
Minutes after the news initially broke, Shane took to Twitter himself with his own message to fans. “It feels ridiculous for comedians to be making serious public statements but here we are," he wrote. "I’m a comedian who was funny enough to get SNL. That can’t be taken away.”
He added, “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 a Mad TV guy anyway.”
On September 12, a racist video emerged that Shane filmed in September 2018. The clip emerged just hours after it was announced that he would join the cast, along with Chloe Fineman and Bowen Yang.
The video was part of an episode of Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast. It featured Shane and cohost Matt McCusker making several racial slurs as they spoke about their distain for Chinatown. Fans flocked to the comedian’s Instagram and dragged him for his behavior. Fans of the long-running comedy show also called for Shane to be taken off Saturday Night Live’s roster.
What do you think of Shane getting fired from Saturday Night Live? Sound off in the comments below!
