Comedian Shane Gillis commented on being fired from Saturday Night Live last night during a stand-up routine at a Manhattan nightclub. Gillis performed an 11-minute set at The Stand, his first since being fired by SNL over racist and homophobic remarks he made on numerous podcasts, turning the comedy controversy into the core of his routine.
“Everybody’s been like, you can’t say sh–t and not expect consequences,” he said, according to Variety. “I’m fine with the consequences. I’m not arguing. F–ck it. But I do want everyone to know that I’ve been reading every one of my death threats in an Asian accent.” Gillis was wearing a “Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast” hoodie, which was the podcast on which he made derogatory and racist remarks about Asians, gay people, and various religions.
Speaking about the backlash on social media he's faced, he said, “It’s been weird. Twitter has been f–cking nuts. You try to stay off it when the whole f–cking country hates you. That’s not a fun feeling as a human. Especially when you never get to say your side at all.”
Here's what else he reportedly said:
He went on to speak about how differently he believes people in his hometown of Philadelphia address politics and race when compared to his new friends in New York: “I don’t know if you can tell, I’m white trash,” he said. “I’m from a sh–t hole and then I moved to the city and now all my friends are woke. They’re from Brooklyn. But I still have uncles. They have the internet, so I’ll get online and the first status will be someone from back home like, ‘F–cking Colin Kaepernick better stand up. Like this status if you love the troops and God. Share it if you’re not gay.’ Next status is one of my new woke friends like, ‘I’m not racist.’
“It’s funny to hear so many people these days be like, ‘I’m not racist,’ ” he continued. “Are you sure? Being racist isn’t a yes or no thing. It’s not like you have it or you don’t have it. Being racist is like being hungry. You’re not right now but a cheeseburger could cut you off in traffic and you could get hungry real quick. You didn’t even know you were hungry for that type of cheeseburger. The cheeseburger’s not Asian in that joke.”
The Stand, which also hosted TJ Miller—who has been accused of sexually assaulting and punching a woman—during last night's show, sent out passive-aggressive messages on Twitter toward Seth Simons, the writer who first posted clips of Gillis' racist remarks, after Simons pointed out that Gillis would be performing there (in a tweet specifically about the myth of "cancel culture" destroying people's careers).
Last Thursday, SNL announced that they had hired three new featured performers for the upcoming 45th season, including impressionist Chloe Fineman, stand-up comedian Gillis and writer/performer Bowen Yang. While the initial headlines all focused on the hiring of Yang, who will be the first Chinese-American cast member, that quickly changed as more information about Gillis's recurring use of racist, sexist and homophobic slurs came out over the day.
On Monday, an SNL spokesperson said, on behalf of Lorne Michaels, that Gillis had been fired. “After talking with Shane Gillis, we have decided that he will not be joining SNL," the 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. 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 that we did not see these clips earlier, and that our vetting process was not up to our standard."
Gillis released his own statement after the news came out, which you can read in full below: "I'm a comedian who was funny enough to get SNL. That can't be taken away."
A few former SNL cast members, including Joe Piscopo, Rob Schneider and Norm MacDonald, came to Gillis's defense in the days since he was fired. Most of the current cast has not publicly weighed in on the controversy, though Kenan Thompson mentioned it during a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter:
He's also excited to see Bowen Yang’s turn in front of the camera (Yang is one of the few SNL writers who have made the leap from desk to screen, and he’s also the first Chinese-American cast member in the show's 45-year history), adding “I’m just sorry it had to be splashed in drama.” Asked about the opportunity for SNL to turn this awkward moment into social commentary, Thompson says, “I think they already made it. They put their stamp on there — which everyone would have assumed about SNL anyway — that we don’t tolerate abuse or disrespect of anyone, racial or otherwise. It’s just not conducive to a comedy show.”
Variety also reported yesterday that Gillis was hired specifically because Michaels and SNL were looking for a comedian who appealed to more conservative viewers. They wrote that unlike most SNL cast members who come from improv troupes like The Groundlings, Second City, and The Upright Citizens Brigade—who often audition with character bits and celebrity impressions, and are prepared for the rigors of the weekly schedule—Gillis had no such background, and using a portion of his stand up routine to audition: "But Gillis didn’t get in trouble for his stand-up — his offensive language and racist comments came on his podcast, which isn’t a honed, developed routine."
Also, the fact that he was cast just three weeks before the season began meant that he wasn't properly vetted, something which insiders told Variety should be corrected in the future.
Many of those who spoke with Variety agreed that “SNL’s” vetting process was “severely lacking” in this case, as Gillis was well-known in comedy circles for using the type of language and remarks that ultimately led to the show cutting ties with him before he ever made it to air. Michaels took the weekend to gather information before making Gillis’ firing official on Monday. This was clearly a learning lesson, and one that will lead to a much more extensive vetting process, insiders added.
