Shane Gillis was announced as a new member of the Saturday Night Live cast on September 12, but he might have already lost his shot. Shortly after the news of his hiring broke, reporters uncovered an old episode of his podcast where he used racial slurs against Asians. He eventually offered to apologize “to anyone who’s actually offended,” but his apology was widely derided on social media.
In the clip from a September 2018 episode of his podcast Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast, Shane said, “Chinatown’s f**king nuts. Let the f**king ch**ks live there.”
He then made fun of Chinese restaurants. He said, “The translation between you and the waiter is such a f**king hassle, I’m pointing at it.” Then he mimicked Chinese accents.
In the apology he posted to Twitter, he wrote, “I’m a comedian who pushes boundaries. I sometimes miss. If you go through my 10 years of comedy, most of it bad, you’re going to find a lot of bad misses. I’m happy to apologize to anyone who’s actually offended by anything I’ve said.”
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According to
Vulture, Shane also has a history of making homophobic remarks. He made fun of comedians like
Judd Apatow and
Chris Gethard, both known for talking about their emotions, and called them “white f****t comics” and “f**king gayer than ISIS.”
Photo credit: INSTARImages
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Vulture also revealed that many comedians in the comedy scene in Philadelphia, where Shane worked for four years, had stopped associating with him because of the “racist, homophobic, and sexist things” he said.
Photo credit: Shane Gillis / Instagram
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The news about Shane’s past remarks was particularly hurtful to fans since SNL announced it was adding comedian Bowen Yang to the cast on the same day. Bowen, who also wrote for the show last year, is the first East Asian member of the cast and is openly gay.
Photo credit: Shane Gillis / Instagram
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Fans voiced their anger on Twitter. “Lazy (and pretty horrible) racism and homophobia is not ‘boundary pushing’ comedy,” one
wrote, calling Shane’s words a “fake apology.”
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Another
wrote, “Hey @nbcsnl, I've been watching consistently since the 80s. I won't [be] watching your show if a blatant racist like Shane Gillis is on it.”
Photo credit: Shane Gillis / Instagram
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Neither NBC nor SNL has commented on the controversy.
Photo credit: INSTARImages
He continued, “My intention is never to hurt anyone but I am trying to be the best comedian I can be and sometimes that requires risks.”
According to
Vulture, Shane also has a history of making homophobic remarks. He made fun of comedians like
Judd Apatow and
Chris Gethard, both known for talking about their emotions, and called them “white f****t comics” and “f**king gayer than ISIS.”
Photo credit: INSTARImages
Vulture also revealed that many comedians in the comedy scene in Philadelphia, where Shane worked for four years, had stopped associating with him because of the “racist, homophobic, and sexist things” he said.
Photo credit: Shane Gillis / Instagram
The news about Shane’s past remarks was particularly hurtful to fans since SNL announced it was adding comedian Bowen Yang to the cast on the same day. Bowen, who also wrote for the show last year, is the first East Asian member of the cast and is openly gay.
Photo credit: Shane Gillis / Instagram
Fans voiced their anger on Twitter. “Lazy (and pretty horrible) racism and homophobia is not ‘boundary pushing’ comedy,” one
wrote, calling Shane’s words a “fake apology.”
Another
wrote, “Hey @nbcsnl, I've been watching consistently since the 80s. I won't [be] watching your show if a blatant racist like Shane Gillis is on it.”
Photo credit: Shane Gillis / Instagram
Neither NBC nor SNL has commented on the controversy.
Photo credit: INSTARImages
