New 'SNL' Cast Member Shane Gillis Speaks Out After Slurs Resurface
Saturday Night Live's newest cast member is already stirring up controversy.
Shane Gillis was announced as the latest addition to its 45th season on Thursday, along with Bowen Yang and Chloe Fineman. However, Gillis has been receiving major heat after racist and homophobic remarks he made within the last year on his podcast resurfaced. Now, the comedian is speaking out, issuing a non-apology for his previous slurs.
"I'm a comedian who pushes boundaries. I sometimes miss," Gillis wrote on Twitter on Thursday night. "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. My intention is never to hurt anyone but I am trying to be the best comedian I can be and sometimes that requires risks."
— Shane Gillis (@Shanemgillis) September 13, 2019
In a since-deleted video from 2018, which was shared on Twitter by writer Seth Simons, Gillis makes racist jokes about Chinese people, calling them offensive names.
"Chinatown's f**king nuts," Gillis tells comedian Matt McCusker on Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast. "Let the f**king ch*nks live there," he adds, later saying that he was at a restaurant "full of f**king Chinee [sic] in there."
As people continue to go through Gillis' previous work, even more anti-Asian comments have been brought up. Meanwhile, Vulture notes that Gillis allegedly has a history of making derogatory remarks and pointed out that he also made fun of Judd Apatow and Chris Gethard's style of comedy, calling them "f**king gayer than ISIS" in another podcast episode.
NBC has yet to comment on Gillis' statement or the controversy.
The new SNL season kicks off Sept. 28 with host Woody Harrelson and musical guest Billie Eilish.
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