Shane Gillis, the comedian who was fired from “Saturday Night Live” after racist jokes of his resurfaced in 2019, is set to host “SNL” on Feb. 24 with musical guest 21 Savage.
Gillis was hired as a new cast member in September 2019, but was fired a week later after videos surfaced of the comedian using racial slurs in a September 2018 episode of his podcast. Soon after the clip was posted to Twitter, it went viral, leading to an outcry for “SNL” to fire Gillis. The comedian used slurs against Asians and the LGBTQ community in past episodes of his show.
“I’m a comedian who pushes boundaries,” Gillis said in a statement posted on Twitter shortly after the outcry. “I sometimes miss. If you got through my 10 years of comedy, most of it bad, you’re going to find a lot of misses. I’m happy to apologize to anyone who’s actually 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.”
Gillis released his first comedy special on YouTube in 2021 and his second special, “Shane Gillis: Beautiful Dogs” on Netflix in 2023.
News of Gillis hosting “SNL” was met by confusion and derision by some on X (formerly Twitter).
Chappelle showing up for goodbyes last week, Nikki Haley in the cold open tonight, Shane Gillis hosting at the end of the month- Bowen spending the rest of the season like this… #snl pic.twitter.com/01oBH5ErMi
— Walter Crankykite (@crankykite) February 4, 2024
first you open ayo edebiri’s episode with a nikki haley cameo and now you invite back the guy you fired five years ago for using racist and homophobic slurs lmao? https://t.co/SPC32ZDxYn
— Zoë Rose Bryant (@ZoeRoseBryant) February 4, 2024
…..Shane Gillis. On SNL. After he got fired from the cast before he even joined for his homophobic, racist slurs. Okay, SNL. OK. #SNL pic.twitter.com/Q204UOpyqV
— alex 🩵 (@amdeeeeeee) February 4, 2024
Next show!!! pic.twitter.com/P6J6QQqOFY
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) February 4, 2024
