Netflix gives TV show to controversial comic Shane Gillis, previously fired from “SNL” for using slurs

Gillis recently returned to host "Saturday Night Live" despite being fired from the show for making racist jokes.

So much for cancel culture.

Netflix has acquired Tires, a six-episode scripted series starring the controversial comedian Shane Gillis, the streamer announced Monday. The company has also ordered a second standup special from Gillis following the success of his 2023 special Beautiful Dogs.

Tires will see Will (Steven Gerben) tormented by his cousin/employee Shane (Gillis) after inheriting his father’s chain of auto-repair shops. The show is also co-created and written by the comic, whose use of racial and homophobic slurs on his podcast cost him a spot in the Saturday Night Live cast in 2019.

Gillis was hired as one of three new featured players for SNL’s 45th season alongside Bowen Yang and Chloe Fineman. Shortly after his casting was announced, clips surfaced of Gillis using racial slurs and making racist jokes in a 2018 episode of Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast. Clips from other podcasts also surfaced displaying similar offensive behavior from the comedian, including using homophobic slurs.

Following the controversy, SNL fired Gillis days before the premiere of season 45. A spokesperson for the show called comic’s language “offensive, hurtful and unacceptable” in a statement to EW at the time. After his firing, Gillis offered that he was "happy to apologize to anyone who’s actually offended by anything I’ve said," without making an actual apology.

Less than five years after his firing, Gillis was invited back to SNL to host Feb. 24’s episode. “I was fired from this show a while ago,” he said during his opening monologue. “Don't look that up, please. Please don't Google that. It's fine. Don't even worry about it. I probably shouldn't be up here honestly. I should be at home. I should be a high school football coach."

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Related content:

• Shane Gillis addresses SNL firing in monologue: 'I probably shouldn't be up here honestly'

• New SNL cast member Shane Gillis uses racial slur in resurfaced podcast clip

• Saturday Night Live fires new cast member Shane Gillis over racial and homophobic slurs

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.