Photo Credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic Inc
SNL fires recent hire over use of offensive slurs
NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” has fired one of three new cast members, just days after hiring him. Shane Gillis, who has described himself as “fat” and from a “white trash town,” was hired and then fired by SNL after a 2018 episode of his “Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast” surfaced where he made derogatory remarks about Asians while chatting with comedian co-host Matt McCusker.
Gillis has since issued an apology to Twitter late Thursday, saying he “pushes boundaries” and “sometimes miss(es).” But the backlash was severe and people questioned ‘SNL’ producers for not researching Gillis’ views before hiring him.
Lorne Michaels, the executive producer of the show, stated that producers were not aware of his prior remarks and initially hired him “on the strength of his talent as a comedian and his impressive audition for ‘SNL.’” Michaels went on to say that Gillis’ past remarks were “offensive, hurtful and unacceptable,” which is why the show has decided that he will not be joining the team.
After Michaels issued his statement, Gillis came out with a statement of his own, boasting he is “a comedian who was funny enough” to get the job in the first place.
Although both SNL and Gillis are receiving backlash from the public, comedians such as Bill Burr, Jim Jefferies, and Rob Schneider are sticking up the young comedian. Burr and Jefferies both appeared on the Sept. 16 episode of David Spade’s Comedy Central talk show “Lights Out” and criticized “SNL” for booting Gillis from the NBC sketch-comedy series because of past jokes.
Jefferies called it “cancel culture,” and said “It was just a couple things back in his history.”
Burr added his two cents, saying “Do they go back and also try to look at things the person might’ve done, or are they just looking for the bad stuff?”
Schneider took to social media to condemn “this era of cultural unforgiveness where comedic misfires are subject to the intolerable inquisition of those who never risked bombing on stage themselves.”
What do you think? Should a comedian be fired for what they said in the past or for past jokes?
By: Maytinee Kramer
