Saturday Night Live Hire Shane Gillis's Racist Material Wasn't Boundary-Pushing Comedy
On Thursday night, Saturday Night Live announced three new cast members set to join its 45th season, including brilliant improviser/impressionist Chloe Fineman, and the incredibly hilarious Bowen Yang—previously a writer on the show, and, not insignificantly, SNL's first Chinese-American cast member. Fineman's hire is exciting; she's a unique talent who's only going to get bigger. Yang's repositioning in front of the camera is a great move by a show that has famously struggled with its own commitment to diversity.
Of course, all of that good news was overshadowed by a shitshow of bad news surrounding the third new member added to the Featured Player ranks, Shane Gillis, a popular podcaster and Philadelphia comedian. Barely hours after the announcement, journalist Seth Simons posted a clip from one of Gillis's podcast recordings, which showed Gillis using what Fox News might call "racially-charged statements" (read: racist statements):
Even in the most charitable, "this-was-taken-out-of-context" interpretation of this conversation—not comedy, a conversation—it's rough stuff, and nowhere near "humor" that "pushes boundaries," a phrase Gillis himself used in a non-apology, delivered via the tried-and-true "notes app screenshot" medium, a favorite of the caught community. If airing grievances that New York's Chinatown has a lot of ugly restaurants, or that confessional comedy in the style of Chris Gethard is "gayer than ISIS," constitutes edginess, then most of the commenters on 4chan can stake a claim to being some of America's most daring comedians.
Simons was quick to point out, too, that the clip itself wasn't dug up from an old archive. It was readily available from an episode Gillis recorded one year ago. What's more, Vulture editor Megh Wright reported last night on Gillis's pattern of racist, homophobic, and sexist behavior "on and off stage."
Now, appointing yourself as a "comedian" and calling the things you say "jokes" does not erase accountability, nor does people finding them and pointing them out constitute an attempt at "canceling" or ruining someone's life. Raising real, cultural concern about an already-popular performer being given a national (and still seminal) platform is valid. No matter what becomes of Gillis's relationship with SNL, he will remain in profitable work with a significant fanbase. Considering all the above, it's obviously just better he doesn't get to do it on a broadcast network.
SNL has yet to comment.
Originally Appeared on GQ
