Shane Gillis, Former ‘SNL’ Cast Member Fired for Racist Jokes, to Host ‘SNL’

Adam Chitwood
·2 min read
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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).

The post Shane Gillis, Former ‘SNL’ Cast Member Fired for Racist Jokes, to Host ‘SNL’ appeared first on TheWrap.